Army, Police kill 7 terrorists in Borno
Tada Jutha, Maiduguri
Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole and the Police have killed seven terrorists in a convoy of Borno state resettlement and relief materials committee along Maiduguri/Monguno road.
The committee; comprising commissioners of Justice, Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RRR) and Local Governments and Emirates Affairs, Kaka Shehu Lawan, Mustapha Gubio and Mai Mele Segum were returning to Maiduguri, after distributing relief materials to displaced persons at Baga.
Confirming the incident Saturday in Maiduguri, the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Lawan, disclosed that, “We were ambushed along the Maiduguri/Gajiram road at Jigalta village of Guzamala council of state,” adding that Governor Babagana Zulum had directed the committee members to proceed to Baga distribute relief materials to IDP returnees.
Zulum’s convoy was attacked severally by Boko Haram along the same route and the Baga/Monguno road last year and January 2021.
He said that the Governor disbursed N325 million and food items to 600,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Monguno last Tuesday, before proceeding to Abuja for the inauguration of Nigerien President-elect, Mohammed Bazoum at Niamey.
On casualties of the ambush, he said: “Besides three soldiers that sustained injuries, none of the troops and government officials, including my humble self, were injured or killed.”
He said that several terrorists were however neutralized with support of the Anti-Robbery Squad and Civilian JTF in the convoy.
Continuing, he added: “There were elements of Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) that ambushed troops escorting us from Baga to Maiduguri.
“The incident occurred in Jigalta village, while returning from Monguno to Maiduguri, the state capital.
“Our troops did a wonderful job by neutralising all the terrorists that ambushed the convoy on Thursday.”
He noted that three soldiers sustained injuries in the foiled attack and evacuated to a military medical facility in Maiduguri for treatments.
He said that the neutralized terrorists could have been terrorizing motorists and commuters along the 134-kilometre Maiduguri/Monguno road.