Troops kill eight terrorists, recover 62 vehicles, motorcycles

Military cautions against negative reports on counter-insurgency
Troops of the 21 Brigade and 7 Division of Nigerian Army on Sunday killed eight Boko Haram terrorists, recovering 62 operating vehicles and motorcycles, while clearing remnants of insurgents in four villages of Borno State, bordering Sambisa Forest.

The cleared villages, according to military authorities yesterday in Maiduguri, include Bala Karege, Goske, Harda and the famous Markas 3.
Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman said yesterday in a statement in Maiduguri, that, “On Sunday, May 8, 2016, the troops cleared four villages in the terrorists’ enclaves. There was no encounter with the terrorists in all the villages as the Boko Haram terrorists have abandoned their huts and ran away.

“Unfortunately, the troops ran into an ambush at Harda village, while advancing. The resilient troops successfully cleared the ambush without any casualty and proceeded with the operations.”

Meanwhile, the General Officer Commanding of 7 Division of Nigerian Army, Brig-General Victor Ezugwu yesterday advised media practitioners in the country against negative reports that could “hamper or slow down” the ongoing war against Boko Haram terrorism in the North-East sub-region.

Ezugwu, who gave the word of admonition yesterday, while speaking to newsmen in Maiduguri, said that the call became imperative because the media has a great role to play in the success of the anti-terror war.

His words, “Nigeria must defeat Boko Haram; for us to be able to make progress, the media has a role to play in this. What you tell the people should be positive, so we can get maximum support from them.”

Ezugwu said that the military had recorded tremendous successes against the terrorists lately with the killing of several insurgents and recoveries of many arms and ammunitions used against innocent citizens in the north east states.

I was privileged to be with the troops some few days ago in Sambisa Forest. They are very professional in their approach to the task and objectives given to them. So far, so good, they are on top of the situation. It is a very different ball game now,” noted the GOC.

Continuing, Acting Director of Army Public Relations said that the troops also recovered suicide vests and several units of high caliber weapons which include, a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) Bomb, 18 round of 23mm Shilka ammunition, a barrel of AK-47 rifle, an extra-barrel of General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), three AK-47 rifle magazines, metal link of 12.7mm ammunition and a heavy-duty solar panel battery.

According to Usman, “So far, two vehicles were recovered from Boko Haram terrorists and over eight insurgents’ bodies were counted before Sunday night fall.”
He however, noted, “There is possibility of recovering more bodies of terrorists by day’s break. We shall get you more details as the Operation Crackdown progresses into the forest.”