- Safiu Kehinde
The Niger State Police Command has recovered one of the suspected United State’s military unexploded ordnances (UXO) device in Zugurma community, Mashegu Local Government Area of the state.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday by the command Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun.
According to Wasiu, the recovery followed a report received on Monday from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Ibbi Division, Mashegu.
He added that some residents of the community had sighted an object suspected to be a missile in a forest within the area.
Abiodun said that the police operatives from the division promptly moved to the scene and cordoned off the area to ensure the safety of residents.
He said that the Commissioner of Police in the state, Adamu Elleman, directed the deployment of personnel to the scene.
He said that the command’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal–Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (EOD-CBRN) unit, led by CSP Mohammed Mamun, were on location by Tuesday.
Abiodun added that the operatives of the division, alongside community members, guided the team to the exact spot where the object was found.
“The EOD team rendered the device safe and recovered it into custody before its onward movement to the State Police Headquarters in Minna,” he said.
The police spokesman said that the device was identified as a UXO missile or military unexploded ordnance, noting that its source was yet to be ascertained.
He said that further investigation into the matter was ongoing, assuring that additional updates would be made public in due course.
Abiodun also said that the Commissioner of Police urged members of the public to remain calm, stressing that all security agencies were on hand to ensure safety and restore normalcy in the affected and surrounding areas.
NPO Reported that the United States had on Christmas Day launched multiple air strikes targeted at terrorists’ camps in the Northwest region.
While the missile strikes had largely hit terrorists’ hideouts in Sokoto State, some unexploded munition landed in neighbouring states such as Kwara and Niger.
Some of the unexploded munitions were however carted away by some residents of the affected communities as the Nigerian Army pleaded for their return.