Not Less Than One officer, three soldiers die in Boko Haram planted IED explosion

The Army has confirmed that it lost an officer and three soldiers in Borno State on Thursday when their patrol vehicle encountered an Im
provised Explosive Device buried on the road between Kangarwa and Alagarno village.

The Army spokesman, Brigadier General Sani Usman, confirmed the incident in a statement on Friday, while giving update on troops’ clearance operations in the North East between Tuesday and Thursday.

Usman said three other soldiers sustained various degrees of injuries, while the patrol vehicle was completely damaged.

Usman, however, said three suspected terrorists who planted the explosive and hid themselves had been fished out and neutralised.

The army spokesman added that apart from clearance operations, troops stationed at Banki in Borno State rendered humanitarian assistance to over 887 Nigerian refugees who returned from Cameroon since Tuesday.

He said the troops, also on Thursday, handed over Jada Hachaba, who was abducted by the terrorists, to her mother at Gulak in Adamawa State.

The army spokesman explained that Hachaba escaped from the terrorists’ captivity, adding that she was handed over in the presence of the District Head of Gulak.

At Buni Yadi in Yobe State, Usman said that troops in the period under review discovered a 122mm D30 unexploded ordinance inside an uncompleted building at the Federal Low Cost Housing Estate.
He said the Explosive Ordinance Team was drafted into the scene to safely detonate the explosive.

Usman said that based on credible information, troops arrested two suspected Boko Haram terrorists’ collaborators/informants – Abubakar Ahmed, 23; and Aji Maina, 45 – on Wednesday.

He said: “Both were arrested at Garin Gada and Kanamma after painstaking trailing.

“Abubakar Ahmed was arrested while trying to collect relief materials for onward conveyance to Boko Haram terrorists, while Aji Maina was arrested while on transit at Kanamma enroute Gamari in Niger Republic.”

Similarly, Usman said vigilant elements of 8 Division Nigerian Army stationed at Kukawa in northern Borno State intercepted two minors on Thursday.

He named them as Abubakar Aji, 13, and Isah Mustapha, 12, adding that they were on spying mission on troops’ location at Kukawa.

Usman added: “On further interrogation, the minors claimed to have been with Boko Haram terrorists in Kangarawa since 2014.”