Gunmen kill lieutenant, seven soldiers in Kaduna

Eight military personnel, including a lieutenant, were feared killed on Monday after armed attackers ambushed troops conducting a rescue mission in Kaduna State.

Counter-insurgency publication Zagazola Makama reported that the soldiers were responding to an earlier attack and abduction in communities along the Kaduna River, in an area straddling Chikun and Igabi Local Government Areas, when they were struck by the assailants.

Details of the incident remain sketchy, and the Nigerian Army had yet to issue an official statement as of press time.

The attack is the latest in a wave of bandit violence sweeping parts of north-west and north-central Nigeria, despite sustained military operations targeting armed groups in both regions.

It follows a series of deadly assaults in March 2025, when bandits launched coordinated attacks on military bases in Kaduna and Niger states. The Nigerian Army at the time described the strikes as a “three-pronged attack” on the affected formations.