Buratai's Advance Team Ambushed In Borno As Troops Kill 5 Insurgents, Arrest 5 Others

Source: thewillnigeria.com

An advance team of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, was ambushed weekend along the Mafa-Gamboru-Ngala road in Borno State by Boko Haram gunmen who killed one soldier and injured two others.

The Army Chief who was in the state to boost the morale of the troops fighting Boko Haram had arrived Maiduguri, Friday, and proceeded to the troubled areas in the state along the country's border by road.

The ambush which occurred around Dikwa, according to a local source, was however countered as the troops mobilised more men to the area, killing five of the insurgents and arresting five others.

According to the source, “The soldiers in the advance team were able to subdue the ambushing Boko Haram terrorists by killing five of them and arresting five others who surrendered their arms.”

It was gathered that soldiers in Buratai's convoy sighted some Boko Haram suspects moving in thick bushes amidst flocks of cattle which made the Army Chief to stop his convoy as he ordered that the suspects be arrested for investigation.

The source said during the interrogation, an elderly herdsman confessed that four of the arrested suspects met them in the bush and compelled them to join them as the suspects later admitted to being members of the Boko Haram. They were subsequently arrested and taken to Maiduguri.

Earlier in the journey, the Army Chief had stopped over at Mafa where men of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army are currently manning the newly-reclaimed town from Boko Haram. He promised the soldiers improved allowances and welfare package, saying he was ready to reward their loyalty and dedication.

Buratai however told the soldiers that “there is still more job to be done,” adding “we have to do this once and for all so that all of us can go back to our respective barracks and continue with our normal lives.”