(NIGERIA) Hundreds of Boko Haram terrorists were again killed at the weekend in separate attacks in Borno and Yobe states. In one of the offensives was an ambush by Nigerians troops between Maiduguri and Damboa.
Eye-witnesses said the terrorists had attacked villages in Borno, moving in groups further into Mamudo and Damagum in Yobe State.
The terrorists allegedly shot randomly at residents during the attack but soldiers, supported by fighter jets repelled them, forcing hundreds of them to abandon several vehicles, motorcycles and weapons for the soldiers which they picked up as the insurgents fled into the bush and surrounding hills.
“We would have been dead by now but the Army really gave the terrorists a good fight,” a resident of Bulabulin said. Bulabulin is in the Damboa Local Government district of Borno State, near the village of Gumsuri where 185 people, mostly women and children, were said to have been abducted by the terrorists last week Sunday.
At least 35 Nigerian Islamist insurgents were said to have been killed in a battle yesterday with security forces, according to residents of Damboa.
“The Boko Haram attacks on Damboa began before Friday prayers and most of them died from the gun battle,” Haruna Ibrahim, a member of a vigilante militia, which fights alongside the military, said by phone yesterday. “We went to the scene this morning mopping up with soldiers and dead bodies were spread everywhere, I counted 35 of them.”
Security sources disclosed that as part of the ongoing mop-up operations, the military successfully laid ambush for groups of terrorists who recently stepped up hostilities around towns and villages in Borno and Yobe states.
The source said it was apparent that the Boko Haram fighters were those displaced from towns and villages in Adamawa State, who were now moving to Borno and Yobe states. But they were said to have suffered major casualties as the military launched coordinated attacks in the towns and villages in the states since Friday evening.
According to the source, large number of the terrorists died in the process while a Hilux truck filled with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) was destroyed.
Defence Spokesman, Major General Chris Olukolade, confirmed the weekend attacks but insisted that the exact casualty figures were still being compiled and would be disclosed soon since bodies of terrorists were still being picked up from the scene of the encounters.
He stated that during the encounter, troops also recaptured a Hilux vehicle belonging to the Borno State Ministry of Education that was stolen by the terrorists, repainted and mounted with ant-aircraft missiles.
Other weapons recovered from the terrorists by troops include rocket propelled grenades and rifles, but two soldiers were said to have died in the encounter.
In another operation, military engineers who were clearing terrorist’s mines, Improvised Explosive Devices [IEDs] and undertaking repairs of bridges blown up early this year by terrorists also repelled an attack by Boko Haram fighters while working on a bridge around Husara, killing several insurgents in the encounter.
Four general purpose machine guns, three rifles and two rocket propelled grenade launchers were captured from them during the encounter. One soldier also died during the attack while three others were wounded.
Olukolade disclosed that troops in Adamawa State have continued advances through coordinated air and land operations with patrol of towns such as Mubi, Uba, Garkida, Muva and other villages to clear the areas of remnants of terrorists in furtherance of the counter-terrorism campaign.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, has praised the crew of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) MI-24V helicopter, which crashed in the night of November 24, 2014 at the outskirts of Yola, for helping to save Adamawa State capital from falling into the hands of Boko Haram terrorists.
Amosu, who spoke during the burial of the ill-fated helicopter crewmen, late Group Captain Ubong Nnamso Akpan, and Warrant Master Zabesan Hosea, at the National Military Cemetery, Abuja, last weekend, stated that Yola was almost captured by the rapidly advancing insurgents before the Air Force planes intervened to stop their advance.
The Air Force chief said the security of Yola was already being breached by the terrorists, who had already captured Mubi and other towns in Adamawa State on their way to the capital.
He praised the gallant efforts of officers and personnel of the military services, especially the pilots, who defied the risks of flying under darkness to conduct the night bombing which stopped the terrorists advance and eventually turned the tide in favour of Nigerian troops.
“The night (they took off for the operation) it was certain that Yola was going to fall, but these gentlemen took off on armed patrol to save the situation but died in the battle,” he said.
Minister of Defence, Lieutenant General Aliyu Gusau (rtd) also commended the daring efforts of Captain Akpan, who was the chief pilot, and Warrant Master Hosea, the technician on board the crashed helicopter.
Gusau said Nigerians are proud of the Air Force officers for their gallantry and for paying the supreme sacrifice in the service of the fatherland.
“We must continue to remember them as a nation and we must not let the sacrifice they paid with their lives be in vain. As we continue to boldly contend with the present security challenges facing our country, we must emulate the selflessness, courage and commitment exhibited by these gentlemen,” he added.
The minister conveyed the condolences of President Goodluck Jonathan to the families of the deceased, especially their wives and children, saying Mr. President and the entire nation share in their grief of losing their loved ones.
“The president and, indeed, the entire people of Nigeria appreciate the great sacrifice of these great Nigerians and other members of the Armed Forces, who have continued to make selfless sacrifice to restore enduring peace to our nation and the world at large,” he said.
Gusau also promised that the Federal Government and relevant military authorities will ensure that the needs of the next of kins of the late servicemen are adequately met to ensure that their dependents do not suffer unnecessary hardship.
He assured that “as the bread winners of the bereaved families have gone to the great beyond, we must remind ourselves that no sacrifice is too big to secure the future of their children.
“These gallant men lost their lives in the course of a noble duty; their sacrifice shall not be in vain. Good men will die but death cannot kill their name.
The name and memory of Ubong Akpan and Warrant Master Hosea will not die in our hearts. They shall be written in gold in the history of this nation and in humanity at large,” he stated.
It could be recalled that the NAF MI-24V helicopter with three crew members crash-landed on November 13 in Girei Local Government Area near Yola, capital of Adamawa State.
REPORT FROM NEWSWATCH TIMES
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