Military kills 10 terrorists, rescues 5,000 hostages in Borno

•Rights groups allege smear campaign against Buratai
Troops of 21, 25 and 192 Task Force Battalions and Brigades of the Nigerian Army at the weekend killed 10 Boko Haram terrorists and rescued 5,000 hostages from 15 villages during clearance operations in Borno State.

The military, during the two-day exercise, also recovered arms and ammunition from the Kusarha-Zalidava axis of Gwoza Local Council of the state.In a statement yesterday in Maiduguri, the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, added that a member of the civilian Joint Task Force was killed while a soldier and a policeman at Maska Lawanti village in Mafa Local Council sustained injuries.

“The troops killed six Boko Haram terrorists and wounded several others. They also liberated over 5,000 persons held by Boko Haram terrorists and recovered 10 motorcycles and bicycles.

“Troops of 7 Division Garrison Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) II, in conjunction with some elements of Mobile Police Force and Civilian JTF today (yesterday) also conducted Boko Haram clearance operations at Masu Yiwa, Ladin Buta, Bazaka, Kesa Gala, Maska Aribe, Tabla, Fahinde, Shirori, Gizina, Maska and Maska Lawanti villages in Mafa council area,” the statement read in part.

Usman noted that the soldiers, during their encounter with the terrorists at Maska Lawanti village, killed two of them and recovered two motorcycles. Meanwhile, two non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) and the Association of African Writers on Human and Peoples Rights (AFRIRIGHTS) have raised the alarm over a purported move to malign the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Yusuf Tukur Buratai.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja yesterday, National Coordinator, HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and Esther Orok of AFRIRIGHTS alleged that a mole within and outside the military establishment had concluded plans to execute the smear campaign through false assets publication of the army chief.