SAN FRANCISCO, September 06, (THEWILL) – Boko Haram insurgents on Thursday killed Alhaji Mohammed Sani (alias A. Banje), an aide to Governor Kashim Shettima, as well as eight other persons in an attack on Bulabulin Ngaura village in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State, where a family of five was also abducted.
The killings came as the military authorities disclosed on Friday that about 50 terrorists were killed in a shoot- out with security operatives in Gajiram and Bulabulin Ngabura communities in Nganzai and Konduga Local Government Areas of the state.
Spokesman of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, who disclosed this while speaking with newsmen in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, said : “Troops of 5 Brigade of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army have effectively repelled Boko Haram terrorists attack on Gajiram and Bulabulin Ngabura communities in Nganzai and Konduga Local Government Areas of Borno State.
“(The) troops pursued the terrorists to their camps and with air support, about 50 terrorists were killed in a shoot out.
“Subsequently the villages have been rescued from the fangs of the insurgents. At the moment, the Five Brigade troops are pursuing the remnants of the fleeing terrorists by blocking all possible exit routes.”
On the number of civilian casualties from the operation,Musa said “the exact number is not known by the military at the moment but local authorities perhaps may have the figure.”
Earlier report of the attack on Bulabulin Ngabura, one of the two villages where 20 persons were said to have been killed, indicated that five persons were killed.
The gunmen were said to have blocked the Maiduguri-Biu road at about 10am on Thursday adorning military camouflage as they stopped vehicles including that of the aide to the governor who was said to have been subsequently killed with eight other persons.
In the Wednesday attack on Gajiram, the headquarters of Nganzai Local Government Area where 15 persons were killed, the market,a school, police station, the Local Government secretariat and other government buildings were set ablaze.
A resident of Bulabulin Ngaura, Mallam Abor, said the gunmen came in military uniform and mounted road block, stopping many people and killed nine persons.
A source at the Biu branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) office said the gunmen“ killed the governor’s aide and eight others and kidnappped a family of five.
The revelation came as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejerika, commended the youth volunteers popularly called Civilians JTF in Borno for their support to the Nigerian Army in fighting the Boko Haram insurgency in the state.
The COAS, who paid a one-day working visit to Maiduguri on Friday, said: “I wish to commend the youth volunteers for their support in fighting the insurgency. I also wish to commend the Shehu of Borno and the entire people of Borno state for their support and assistance .”
Ihejerika disclosed that he was in Maiduguri to see how the newly established 7th Division of Nigerian Army was settling down.
“I am impressed with the logistics and every thing and I am assuring that the Army Headquarters and the Defence Headquarters are appreciative of their work as it had been with the JTF,”he said, adding ” I am very impressed with the conduct of the troops because they had adhered to the rules of engagement, these soldiers have really done us proud.”
