Three suspected bandits were reportedly gunned down after soldiers foiled an attempt to rustle cattle at a Fulani settlement at Mai -Iddo village in Kachia LGA of Kaduna State.

A community leader from the area, who confirmed the incident to our reporter on Sunday, said it happened around 5:12 pm on Saturday.

He said the bandits, who were in their numbers, wielding sophisticated weapons invaded the settlement and attempted to rustle some cows belonging to one Alhaji Wakili Ibrahim.

He said luck ran out of the bandits when some troops who were on patrol returning from neigbouring Kurmin-Kare village,  encountered the bandits, forcing them to abandon the cows after a fierce gun battle.

He said, “They had almost succeeded in rustling over 100 cows belonging to Alhaji Wakili from the Fulani settlement but as God will have it, the troops met them and engaged them in heavy gun fire and killed three them bandits.”

A security source, who preferred anonymity,  confirmed the incident, saying three bandits were killed during the gun battle with the soldiers while attempting to escape with over 100 cows at Mai -Iddo village.

He said some of the bandits escaped with bullets wounds and the troops were still trailing them in order to locate their hideout.

The spokeswoman for the Kaduna State Police Command, ASP Hassan Mansur, could not be reached for comment on the incident as repeated calls to his mobile line were connected.