Nigerian soldiers
| credits: File cop
| credits: File cop
The military has commenced an operation in
Sambisa Forest in Borno State to flush out Boko Haram insurgents. The
forest is widely believed to host some of the training
camps and facilities of Boko Haram in the North-East. It was learnt
that the military high command decided to invade the vast forest in order to
make the North-West safe for the general elections.
A reliable source in the Army told one of our
correspondents in Abuja that Air Force jets started the
raid on Monday. He added that surveillance activities and raids were also
ongoing as of the time he spoke on Wednesday. The source, who did not want his
name in print because he was not authorized to speak on the development, said
that massive ground operation would follow the aerial operations. He said, “The
military started an operation in the Sambisa Forest on Monday. For now, there
are no specific cases of arrest; we don’t have that information now. The Air
Force has been operating in the area since Monday. It is after that that the
ground troops who are on red alert would be moved in.”
Also, a source close to an office strategic to
the operations said that a lot of activities were going
on simultaneously in the forest and other parts of the North-East believed to
host Boko Haram camps. He explained that the military was combing
the forest because of intelligence reports that some of the
insurgents who were dislodged from some communities in the North-
East were moving back to the forest.
The Director, Defence Information, Maj. Gen.
Chris Olukolade, could not be reached for comments on the raids
as calls to his mobile did not connect.
Meanwhile, 800 children from areas
affected by insurgency in Adamawa State are currently undergoing
psychotherapy in the state. Executive Chairman of the state Universal Basic
Education, Bello Furo, who made this known explained that the psychotherapy was
to minimise the trauma faced by the children whose parents were
either gunned down or slaughtered by Boko Haram insurgents.
He said, “The process will take some
time because most of the parents were slaughtered before their children. “Right
now, they do not have anybody to cater for them; they lost their
parents as a result of the insurgency.”
Also in the state on Wednesday, the wife of the
All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Aisha
Buhari donated drugs worth N135m to Internally
Displaced Persons in Damare. Aisha, who
said that it was unfortunate that the IDPs were refugees in their
own country, showed sympathy and asked them to be
steadfast in their prayers for peace to return to the country,
especially the North-East.
Meanwhile, Boko Haram ighters attacked Chadian army positions in Gamboru, Borno State on Wednesday
but were beaten back. The Chadian troops are in Gamboru as part of a regional
offensive against the islamist sect, which had staged several
cross-border attacks over the past week. “We knew they were going to attack us.
We were waiting. The battle didn’t last long. They fled,” a Chadian soldier
said. He said that eight of his colleaques were wounded while three
Boko Haram vehicles were destroyed and one seized.
The Chadian Army later said in a statement that 13 Boko Haram fighters and a soldier lost
their lives during the attack.
Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on
Wednesday in Diffa, Niger Republic, a day after mortars and machine-gun shots
were heard in N’Guigmi on the country’s border with Nigeria. The
town lies near Lake Chad, around 100 kilometres east of Diffa.
Source: Punch Online
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