•Police confirm Sokoto terrorist attack

The Benue State Police Command has confirmed an attack on Mbaterem in Ukum Local Council Area of the state yesterday by unknown gunmen.

Though the Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Peter Orchia, did not disclose the casualties after confirming the attack incident, the Council Chairman, Jonathon Modi, told The Guardian on the phone that the bodies of four victims have so far been recovered while the search continues.

However, a survivor who gave his name as Torkuma told The Guardian, put the number of those killed at seven, stating that the attackers started at Myina Village and spread to the nearby villages of Ikpur, Ayaba and Ajio, where they burnt houses and fired sporadically.

Meanwhile, Modi disclosed that many people sustained various degrees of injury, adding that he had directed that they be taken to the hospital at Zaki Biam for urgent medical attention.

In another development, sources said troops have repelled an attack by suspected Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists on a forward operating base (FOB) at Mandaragirau in Borno State.

Meanwhile, the police have confirmed that suspected Lakurawa terrorists attacked Kebbe town in Sokoto State over the weekend, with reports stating that four soldiers were killed in the confrontation. However, the Nigerian Army did not confirm the reported death toll when The Guardian inquired, just as there were no recorded civilian casualties.

A counter-insurgency publication, Zagazola Makama, cited what it called credible sources as saying that the Borno FOB attack occurred at about 2 am on August 15, when the terrorists launched a coordinated assault on the base from two separate fronts.

It quoted the sources as saying that “the troops, who were on high alert, immediately engaged the advancing terrorists on sighting them,” adding that the unnamed battalion commander reportedly led standby troops to reinforce ambush teams already deployed along likely enemy approaches.

“A heavy exchange of fire ensued, during which the troops decisively repelled the attack on one axis, inflicting significant disruption on the assailants,” it stated.

“In a separate manoeuvre, another group of terrorists attempted to bypass the ambush positions and breach the camp through the river line. However, they were also successfully repelled by the troops, forcing the attackers to withdraw in disarray.”

According to the publication, troops pursued the fleeing terrorists but later halted the operation due to poor visibility and difficult terrain. In the meantime, no casualties were recorded on the side of the troops, just as those of the terrorists could not be immediately ascertained.

Meanwhile, Makama also reported that troops conducting follow-up clearance operations along the Mandaragirau–Kana axis on Saturday morning discovered and safely detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) suspected to have been planted in anticipation of troop reinforcement movement.

For the Sokoto incident, spokesperson for the state Police Command, Ahmad Rufai, told newsmen that many armed fighters entered Kebbe, the headquarters of Kebbe Local Council Area, on Friday morning and engaged security personnel.

He said police personnel responded to the attack and suffered no casualties, adding that though he received information that there were military casualties, the military has declined to state the figure.

In an inquiry by The Guardian, the military spokesperson also declined to confirm or deny the casualty claim, citing security protocols on the disclosure of operational information.