The Nigerian Army says it has killed many insurgents while 16 others have surrendered during various operations by troops in the North-east within the past one week.
The Operations Media Coordinator of the army, Colonel Aminu Iliyasu, who confirmed this in a statement on Friday regretted that an officer and a soldier paid the supreme price.
He noted that the incremental raids, clearance patrols, sting operations, cordon and search operations, as well as mortar and artillery bombardment of identified insurgents and bandits’ hideouts, yielded tremendous positive outcomes.
The period, according to him, also witnessed the interception and arrest of several Boko Haram logistics suppliers and informants by the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole, as well as the arrest of some bandits and other criminal elements in other parts of the country.
“On November 1, 2019, for instance, 16 insurgents along with eight of their spouses who could no longer bear the heat from the onslaught against them surrendered to the relentless troops of Sector 1, Multinational Joint Task Force at Fotokol,” he said.
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Colonel Iliyasu explained that the surrendered insurgents were later handed over to troops of 3 Battalion at Gamboru Ngala, a border town in the north-eastern zone of the state.
During preliminary interrogation and profiling, the insurgents were said to have confessed to having actively participated in attacks conducted against both military and civilian targets at various times.
Investigation revealed that 14 of them were members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) led by Al-Barnawi while the remaining two belonged to the Abubakar Shekau led Boko Haram faction.
The army operations media coordinator said the repentant insurgents regretted their participation in the heinous crimes and called on their former colleagues to surrender to troops.
In a related incident, a Boko Haram member was said to have met his waterloo on Monday in an attempt to cross into the Sambisa Forest at Bama-Banki Road Junction, when troops sighted and killed him.
On the same day, troops of 195 Battalion who were on clearance patrol along Gubio Road recovered a kit bag containing 480 Rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition suspected to have been abandoned by escaping terrorists.
Elsewhere, troops deployed at Gajigana in Magumeri LGA of Borno State intercepted some Boko Haram insurgents in the early hours of Tuesday.
The insurgents were suspected to be on their way to attack the community to source for food items and other logistics for survival.
However, they were intercepted by troops who killed three of them while several others escaped with varying degrees of gunshot wounds.
“Unfortunately, one soldier paid the supreme price while two others were wounded in action. The wounded soldiers are currently responding to treatment in a military medical facility,” Iliyasu said.
He added that troops recovered two AK 47 rifles, one Rocket Propelled Gun 7 (RPG 7), five AK 47 magazines, 47 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, and some quantities of hard drugs.
The following day, nine Boko Haram insurgents were killed while others escaped with gunshot wounds following an encounter with troops at Muchima in Damboa LGA of Borno.
During the operation, an insurgent gun truck was destroyed while four AK 47 rifles and a cache of ammunition were recovered.
