SAN FRANCISCO, October 18, (THEWILL) – The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen. Tukur Buratai has declared that the military has chased Boko Haram terrorists completely out of Nigeria insisting that the latest attack by the insurgents around the Lake Chad Basin was done from outside the nation’s border.
Buratai made this known in Lagos, on Tuesday, after unveiling some office structures at the Albati Barracks.
“You cannot call it resurgence. We are taking care of all these. Wherever there is attack, we look at it to see what happened so that we can address specific issues,” he said.
“This is a conflict and we have done very well and gone very far. We have pushed them outside our territory. Those who attack mostly come from outside to attack our people.
“So, we are working with the multinational Joint Task Force to address that. They are very few and they come from across borders.
“We are working on our strategy to ensure that all abducted persons, including Chibok girls are rescued. The negotiations by the government does not hinder our strategy. Any other arrangement done through diplomacy is aiming towards themselves objective.
“The army is collaborating with all security services. We are not overwhelmed nor over stretched. We are better trained, better equipped and have better intelligence.”
Meanwhile, Sani Usman, Army Spokesman, has disclosed that some suspected Boko Haram members attacked its troops at a location in Gashigar, northern Borno, dislodging them in the process and some soldiers missing.
“Yesterday at about 5.30pm, suspected escaping remnants of Boko Haram terrorists attacked troops’ location at Gashigar, border area with Niger Republic, northern Borno state,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The troops did their best to defend the location in vain. In the process, 13 soldiers sustained injuries while some are still missing in action.
“The temporary setback made the troops to withdraw from the location. However, the wounded soldiers have been evacuated and they are receiving treatment, while efforts are ongoing in search of those missing and clearing the Boko Haram terrorists in the general area.”
Story by Oputah David
