UPDATE ON CLEARANCE OPERATIONS BY TROOPS

In continuation of clearance operations of
the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists,
troops of 7 Division in Operation LAFIYA
DOLE have been making tremendous
progress in their various areas of
operational responsibilities. They were able
to carry out clearance operations, raids and
patrols that resulted in the killing of so
many suspected Boko Haram terrorists,
arrests and rescue of persons, as well as
recovery of arms and ammunitions.
On Thursday, 21st April 2016, troops of 21
Brigade Nigerian Army carried out
clearance operations at Bulari, Tori 1, 2 and
3 during which they successfully cleared the
general area of remnants of Boko Haram
terrorists.
During the operation, 10 terrorists were
killed and one was captured alive.
Unfortunately, 2 Civilian JTF accompanying
the troops lost their lives. The troops
rescued 7 civilians and recovered a
Volkswagen Golf car, 15 bicycles and
various bags of foodstuffs.
The troops of 22 Brigade on the other hand
intercepted 26 persons comprising mostly
women and children, coming towards Adah
village in Ngala Local Government Area of
Borno State, who on interrogation stated
that they were held hostage by Boko
Haram terrorists, but escaped as their
captors were moving towards Lake Chad
general area because of troops presence.
Similarly, troops of the same Brigade
carried out a fighting patrol, cordon and
search operation on Thursday 21st April
2016, along Dikwa-Marte road, Kaje,
Selenge, Manekura, Mane Gana and
Gawayi villages. Although there wasn’t any
encounter with the terrorists, the troops
recovered 5 motorcycles, 6 Boko Haram
terrorists flags and 4 bags of grinded corn
in Mane Gana village. They also rescued 3
women and 5 children at the same village.
The rescued persons told the troops that
their husbands were actually Boko Haram
terrorists who have ran away towards Lake
Chad area due to immense pressure from
the military clearance operations.
On their part, troops of 3 Battalion also
conducted patrol towards Diema, Sigel and
Kala in which they had an encounter with
Boko Haram terrorists in which the gallant
troops killed 8 of them and recovered 2
Dane Guns and 4 assorted batteries.
The troops of 7 Division Special Fighting
Forces attached to 25 Task Force Brigade
Damboa, at a checkpoint, arrested a
suspected Boko Haram terrorist, Abubakar
Bello and 6 other suspects carrying 28
gallons of “Turkey” brand of vegetable oil, 8
bags of flour, 130 crates of soft drinks and
2 bags of sugar. In addition, 5 mobile
telephone handsets, 1 external hard drive
and 5 flash drives, 2 national identity cards
and the sum of Seventy Thousand Naira
(N70,000.00k) only were recovered from
him. Preliminary investigation discovered
that the terrorists now dilute the vegetable
oil with other substances to produce diesel
to power their generators.
The troops of 254 Task Force Battalion in
conjunction with vigilantes and Borno
Youths Empowerment Scheme (BOYES),
also carried out clearance operations at
Mufurundi, Kaleri, Masemari, Bego, Bale,
Gadzama and Gagantilo villages along
Damboa-Bale-Gwoza road. During the
operation, the troops encountered and
detonated an Improvised Explosive Device
(IED), buried by the terrorists at Gadzama
village. They also encountered Boko Haram
terrorists at Bego where they engaged the
terrorists, neutralized them and cleared
their camps within the general area. In the
encounter, the troops killed 9 Boko Haram
terrorists and recovered 1 AK-47 rifle with
registration number TH5712 and 17 rounds
of 7.62mm (Special) ammunition. They also
rescued 157 persons held hostages by the
terrorists.
The troops of 26 Task Force Brigade
stationed in Gwoza yesterday also
intercepted 8 suspected Boko Haram
terrorists, trying to enter Gwoza town.
Though they claimed to be farmers coming
from Shiadawey, Takwala and Amdaga
Madachi villages respectively, which were
known terrorists hideouts, preliminary
investigations showed that they were
indeed terrorists on a recruitment drive.
This was made manifest when the sum of
Six Hundred and Thirty Seven Thousand
(N637,000.00k) Naira was discovered on
Abdullahi Yakubu who was identified by
another escapee/suspected Boko Haram
terrorist as having trading links with the
terrorists while the others were confirmed
to have participated in carrying out various
terrorists acts for the Boko Haram
terrorists group. Similarly, one Ibrahim
Bute aged 67 years, of Gobara village was
arrested by the troops on suspicion of
being a Boko Haram kingpin.
Troops of 114 Task Force Battalion of 28
Task Force Brigade also conducted a
fighting patrol along Bitta-Madube-Izge axis
same day.
The troops of 117 Task Force Battalion
following a tip off, also arrested a
suspected Boko Haram terrorist who gave
his name as Bello Isah at Mugulvu village.
The unit also discovered and retrieved 29
rounds of 7.62mm (Special) rounds of
ammunition hidden at a farm in Gella
village.
The troops in various deployments within
the theatre remain vigilant with soaring
morale and committed to their duties of
clearing the remnants of the Boko Haram
terrorists hiding in various remote corners
and crannies.
Thank you for your continued support and
cooperation.
Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman
Acting Director Army Public Relations