In less than one month, no fewer than three ranking Army Commanders have been killed among other soldiers by the Boko Haram insurgents, ROYAL NEWS reports.
Another top Nigerian soldier has been confirmed dead after a Boko Haram ambush from which he was initially injured.
In a press statement released on Wednesday, November 23, by Major General Lucky Irabor, the commander of the Nigerian Army in the north east, the military confirmed the death of BU Umar, while another lieutenant identified as Muktar, was confirmed dead during the ambush by the insurgents.
“On 15 Nov 16 at about 0930hrs own troops while on patrol to MUBI encountered an IED explosion along Bitta – Pirang road and thereafter were ambushed by BHT”, Mr. Irabor, a major general, said, according to the text of a press conference he delivered on Wednesday.
“Troops successfully cleared the ambush after a fight and unfortunately the Commanding Officer, Lt Col BU Umar lost his life on the spot. Subsequently, Lt Muktar also died in the hospital where 8 others soldiers who are wounded in action were receiving treatment.
The wounded soldiers have been responding to treatment. “In all the operations, a total of 5,235 people were rescued from the BHT,” his statement read in part.
While explaining the reason for the recent successes recorded by the insurgents, the Army commander said: “The impact of recent bombings in Maiduguri, though sad and unfortunate, was minimal due to the alertness of troops and other security agencies.
“Apart from the one wherein 2 CJTF personnel were killed and some others wounded, only the terrorists died, while one was captured alive. The captured suicide bomber is assisting in the investigation into cases of suicide bombings.
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