COAS Rallies Citizens against Security Challenges

…Troops kill 12 insurgents

Kingsley Nwezeh

The troops of 82 Division Task Force battalion of the Nigerian Army yesterday killed 12 insurgents in a fierce encounter in Borno State.

The clash with insurgents came as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Maj. Gen. Faruk Yahaya, yesterday solicited the support of the citizenry for the armed forces to enable it contain the insecurity bedeviling the country.

Yahaya rallied Nigerians during a medical outreach in Mpape community in Abuja organised to mark the Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) 2021.

An earlier statement issued by the Army Spokesman, Brigadier-General Onyema Nwachukwu, said troops of 82 Division Task Force battalion on patrol on the Ngoshe-Ashigashiya, about 12km from the unit’s location, had encounter with elements of Boko Haram terrorists at Daushe in Borno State.

Nwachukwu in the statement said the troops, who fiercely engaged and sustained heavy gun fire on the terrorists during the encounter, neutralised five terrorists, compelling the terrorists group to retreat in disarray into Mandara Mountains with several gunshot wounds.

After the gun battle, the troops recovered one AK-47 rifle, one magazine containing 13 rounds of fabricated 7.62mm (special), a bandolier of 44 rounds of 7.62mm (NATO), and a bag containing 52 rounds of 7.62mm (special).

In a similar operation, troops of 212 Battalion on July 1, 2021, carried out clearance operations on marauding Boko Haram terrorists in the Gadayi-Kareto-Gubio axis, Magumeri, Tungushe villages and the general area of Kerenoa.

During the offensive, the troops recovered one AK-47 rifle and one Baufeng communication radio set abandoned by the fleeing terrorists.

In a separate operation, members of Boko Haram/ISWAP were intercepted while crossing through an identified supply route in the Auno- Jakana axis with trucks laden with petroleum products into the forest.

The statement said vigilant troops deployed in Garin Kuturu check point swiftly engaged the terrorists in a fierce battle forcing them to flee abandoning the trucks and the products.

It said: “Following the attack on the terrorists, reinforcement by troops of Sector 1 and 2 gave the fleeing terrorists a hot pursuit with close air support from the Nigerian Air Force Component of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK)

“During the encounter, six terrorists were neutralised, three AK-47 rifles and one rocket propelled grenade were captured, while one gun truck was destroyed. Also, two other gun trucks abandoned by the terrorists were recovered.”

The COAS, Yahaya, commended the tremendous effort made by the land troops and the air component of OPHK.

He charged them to deny the terrorists freedom of action by conducting regular patrols and projecting aggressive offensives to completely flush out the terrorists from their hideouts.

He further called on members of the public to collaborate with the military and other security agencies in the fight against the enemies of Nigeria.

Also, speaking on the medical outreach programme organised for Mpape community in Abuja, Yahaya said the outreach, which was going on simultaneously in all military formations across the country, was part of the army’s social responsibility initiative designed to help host communities.

In his remarks, the traditional ruler of the community, Mr. Abubakar Gimba, expressed his gratitude to the Nigerian army for the medical outreach, saying it was a show of brotherhood.