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Army foils fresh attack on Borno community

By Njadvara Musa, Maiduguri
18 January 2019   |   4:19 am
The Army has said that three soldiers were lost while repelling Boko Haram attack on Rann Village in Borno State on Tuesday.Spokesman of Operation Lafiya Dole, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu....

Col. Onyema Nwachukwu

The Army has said that three soldiers were lost while repelling Boko Haram attack on Rann Village in Borno State on Tuesday.Spokesman of Operation Lafiya Dole, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement yesterday in Maiduguri, said that troops successfully foiled an attempt on Gajiram community on Wednesday night, killing scores of terrorists.

According to him: “Troops deployed to the Forward Operational Base in Gajiram have fiercely countered a group of Boko Haram terrorists who made frantic attempt to infiltrate Gajiram community on Tuesday, January 15, 2019.“The terrorists wanted to take advantage of sunset to attack the town. They met with the prompt response of the vigilant troops who fiercely engaged them in combat, killing several of them and recovered dozens of weapons.

“During the encounter, troops recovered an AK 47 rifle, two AK 47 magazines, a Rocket Propelled Grenade Tube, three Rocket Propelled Grenade bombs, four Bomb Chargers and a Light Machine Gun Belt Links.”He said that troops are currently on trail of some of the survivors, who fled the scene of encounter.

Meanwhile, the Army has assured about one million Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) and humanitarian workers in camps of Borno State border communities of their safety.The border camps, according to Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), are located at Rann, Banki, Gashigar, Pulka, Gambouru and Malam Fatori, on shores of Lake Chad.

Spokesman of 7 Division of the Army, Col. Ado Isa, in a statement yesterday in Maiduguri, said: “The Theatre Commander, Maj.-Gen. Benson Akinroluyo and Acting General Officer Commanding, Brig.-Gen. Abdulmalik Biu, consequently replenished the troops with more ammunition, uniforms, fragmental jackets and other logistics.”

“This is to support and boost troops’ morale and reassure them of the Chief of Army Staff’s continued commitment to their safety and welfare. “Rann, the border community with Cameroun, was attacked three times since March 2018 by Boko Haram insurgents.“Generals Akinroluyo and Biu on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 conducted a long range confidence-building patrol, assessment and re-assurance visit along the axis of Mafa, Dikwa, Logomani, Gamboru/Ngala and Rann.

“The safety reassurance visit is to check the operational readiness and situations within 22 Brigade general areas of deployment in Borno State.”He, therefore, urged the people to continue to support military operations by providing information and identification of strange persons in border communities.He also enjoined them to go about their normal activities and always remain vigilant.

While appreciating troops’ efforts in the fight against insurgency, he urged them to maintain the existing synergy with the Nigerien troops deployed along the border communities.“This is to deny the terrorists freedom to operate within the border areas with Niger, Chad and Cameroun,” he said.

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