Bandits on Thursday evening reportedly engaged the military in a gun duel at a checkpoint in Zuma Rock Madalla, along the Kaduna-Abuja highway.
It is not yet clear if there were any casualties.
The attack started at about 8pm.
Witnesses said that the terrorists were reportedly making an eastern push into the nation’s capital when Nigerian soldiers intercepted them at joint security forces barricades close to Zuma Rock.
“We were going on patrol when we heard about an ongoing fight between soldiers and terrorists,” an officer in the nation’s capital told Peoples Gazette.
“They tried to radio us that it was a bad situation there.”
The officer said the situation was too fuzzy to provide further details about the attack. Soldiers from Suleja Barracks were said to have been put on high alert, although it was unclear if the facility was attacked.
Witnesses’ accounts, including videos on social media, revealed severe traffic build-up as motorists remained trapped on the Abuja-Kaduna highway amidst fear of being caught in the crossfire.
The terrorists reportedly attacked villages while foraging along the highway riding their motorcycles to Abuja.
This latest attack on a military installation comes days after bandits attacked a unit of the presidential brigade guards, killing at least three soldiers.
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