Chief of Army staff, Lt. Gen. Buratai
By Dauda R. Pam, Maiduguri
Troops of the Nigerian army have rescued about 465 captives in the dens of the dreaded Boko Haram criminals and several others nuetralised in Kopa and Jakana/Mainok areas of Adamawa and Borno states.
At the two-day military operations, embarked upon by troops of 29 Task Force in collaboration with others also arrested six Boko Haram insurgents in general area of Konduga Council of Borno State.
Media Coordinator Army operations, Col. Aminu Iliyasu, stated that,“Our military operations were jointly coordinated by Army Task Forces and Battalions between January 2 and 4, 2020″adding that on January 2, some criminal Boko Haram insurgents attempted again to infiltrate the Michika Township in Adamawa state to wreak havoc on innocent and law abiding residents of Michika.
He said with the swift response of troops in defense of the town, they effectively repelled the attack, before killing six Boko Haram terrorists that had been hibernating in the Mandara Mountains as “The criminals went to the town in Gun Trucks and motorcycles late afternoon on that fateful day and “They began to shoot sporadically that caused panic and uproar in the peaceful community.
According to media coordinator Army operations said “the The attacks compelled residents to scamper for safety, before the troops repelled the insurgents on border towns with Cameroon, stressing that, “the courageous troops immediately mobilized, blocked and engaged the criminals with overwhelmingly superior firepower,” thereby forcing the insurgents to abandon their heinous intentions to retreat in disarray with high casualties of men and equipment.
Aminu Iliyasu hinted that “Unconfirmed numbers of dead and wounded criminal elements were believed to have been hauled away by the withdrawing insurgents” as indicated by traces of their blood found along their withdrawal routes towards the mountain and forest.
Arms and ammunition recovered, included a Gun Truck mounted with anti-aircraft Gun, two AK 47 Rifles, four AK 47 Rifle magazines, two motorcycles and a machete, some quantities of provision, food items, drugs as well as Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs) detonating.
In a related development, Aminu Illiyasu said troops of 144 Battalion responded to a distress call on an impending Boko Haram criminals’ attack on Kopa Village in Madagali LGA, Adamawa State, through an ambush established to prevent troops counter action against their assailment on the
village” and cleared the ambush.
Also several arms and ammunition were captured, including a gun truck and two motorcycles and 36 hand grenades while an officer and a soldier were wounded in action in the two encounters and have since been evacuated to a military medical facility for treatment, he said.
The troops he said are usually deployed to provide mobility, protection and fire power for troops in Sambisa Forest and Lake Chad region.
On the rescued civilians, he said: “There was an astonishing number of 461 Boko Haram captives comprising 100 men, 154 women and 207 children” noting that they were held captives in their communities and that the children have since been immunized against polio by Buratai Intervention Task Force Initiative of the Army while the rescued people have been promptly evacuated and handed over to officials of Borno State Internally Displaced Persons.
In the same vein, troops of 159 Task Force Battalion deployed to man the supply to Damasak-Kareto route on January 2, rescued four children of 10 -14 years old, hinted that, the children were abducted from Damasak in 2015 by Boko Haram criminal elements, who narrated their ordeal in the hands of the Boko Haram criminals, before escaping from the Tumbun Gini camp and contacts with their parents have already been established to identify and reunite them with their children.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.