By Dan Zendesha 

The government of Kogi State has announced the killing of a suspected bandit leader identified as Kachala Ibrahim Batijo, said to be behind a deadly school attack in Iluke Bunu. Officials say he was neutralised during a coordinated security operation involving multiple agencies. Independent confirmation of the claim has not yet been established.

The Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, disclosed the development during an interview on Channels Television programme Sunrise Daily. He said Batijo was among several suspects killed in a coordinated operation involving security forces.

According to the government, the suspect was linked to the attack on a school in Iluke Bunu, Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area, which reportedly led to the deaths of three people, including a vice principal and a six-year-old child.

The government further alleged that the group had been planning large-scale abductions of students across schools in the state.

Officials said intelligence-led surveillance tracked the suspect over time, during which some schools were temporarily shut and later relocated as a precaution.

Fanwo claimed that on June 10, armed attackers used dozens of motorcycles to carry out an assault on Iluke Bunu, targeting students but were repelled by combined security efforts.

He credited the operation to collaboration between the military, police, the Department of State Services, and local security structures.

The commissioner stated that more than a dozen suspected attackers were killed during the operation and that additional bodies were later discovered.

He also claimed that security forces later exhumed the suspected leader’s body for forensic verification, suggesting further examination is underway to confirm identity.

These figures and operational details remain government-reported and have not been independently verified.