The Defence Headquarters, Abuja, has
said that the days of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, are numbered,
calling on his remaining members to surrender to the troops.
This is just as no fewer than 15 Boko Haram insurgents were killed by troops on Friday in a battle at Rann in Borno State.
Sources said five soldiers were also critically injured.
The Director, Defence Information,
Brig.Gen. Rabe Abubakar, in an interview with our correspondent, said
arrested Boko Haram members were already supplying the military with
vital information.
Abubakar added that Boko Haram members should not allow Shekau to deceive them any longer, as his days were numbered.
He said, “The Boko Haram insurgents are
applying medicine after death. After all, we are aware that such video
was done before we took over Sambisa Forest. Therefore, the release of
the video is not surprising to us.
“The insurgents are defeated and those
arrested are giving us the vital information that will aid our mop-up
operations in the area.
“We are going to convert the forest to a
training camp soon. Shekau is a coward and we will trail him to
anywhere he is hiding. He is definitely not in the Sambisa Forest of
Borno State. We are calling on the remnants of the Boko Haram sect to
surrender for their safety before it is late. They should not allow
Shekau to deceive them as his days are numbered. The public should
disregard all the antics of the terrorists.”
In the battle at Rann, which reportedly
started as a gun fight between troops of the Operation Lafiya Dole and
the insurgents at about 6am, it was learnt that no fewer than 15 of the
Boko Haram members were killed.
A military source said troops also recovered weapons from the dead insurgents.
He said, “The gun battle lasted for
about three hours. The terrorists actually planned to launch a surprise
attack on the soldiers. Fortunately, the insurgents were the more hit.
“Troops from the 3 and 112 task force
battalions in Rann were the soldiers who repelled the attack. Weapons
ranging from AK 47 rifles, magazines, FN rifles to Improvised Explosive
Devices were recovered from the insurgents.”
No comments:
Post a Comment