SAN FRANCISCO, October 30, (THEWILL) –Several Boko Haram gunmen were recently killed in a coordinated aerial and land attack by the Nigerian Army which raided the camps and hideouts of the insurgents in Borno.
The successful routing of the terrorists was made possible with the support of the Nigeria Air Force, which bombarded the camps of the camps of the notorious sect from the air.
Disclosing this in Maiduguri on Wednesday at a media briefing, Captain Aliyu Danja who spoke on behalf of the spokesman of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Lt. Col. Mohammed Dole, said the Air Force assisted in locating some Boko Haram camps in Gowok and Marguba villages and the camps were bombarded from the air and on the ground , leading to the death of many of the insurgents. He said some of the terrorists who fled the camps into the bushes were pursued and killed.
Danja noted that the terrorists’ camps were sighted through the assistance of members of the public who volunteered information. The good Samaritans, according to him, revealed that a group of suspected terrorists in their hundreds were sighted crossing Maiduguri- Damaturu federal highway around Mainok general area of Benesheikh in Kaga Local Government Area of Borno State.
He said when his men got the information , troops were immediately mobilised and deployed to the area and they pursued the terrorists to their camps in Gowok village and killed a large number of them, before destroying their camps.
He said those who escaped the offensive fled towards Marguba village but were also pursued and killed.
He added that after tracing the fleeing terrorists in Marguba village where scores were also killed, others who escaped the second raid again crossed over the Maiduguri- Damaturu road close to Benesheikh heading towards Gubio Local Government Area which is located in the northern part of the state.
Danja said the operation was still ongoing as troops are currently pursuing the fleeing terrorists, adding that with the commitment and dedication of the ground troops and the air strikes, the officers and men of the Division are optimistic that none of the fleeing terrorists will survive the operation.
Danja said he would not be able to give the actual number of terrorists killed as the operation was still ongoing but promised that as soon as the operation is over, the Division would made public the number of terrorists killed.
He however said the General Officer Commanding the Division, Major general Obidah Ethan used the opportunity and called on the general public to cooperate with the security agencies, especially in the area of intelligence gathering which, he noted, will assist in the fight against terrorism in the state. He also reassured that the Division was doing everything possible to wrest the state from the grip of Boko Haram.
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