Troops rescue 236 captives as 77 B/Haram members surrender

Nigerian troops have res­cued 236 persons held captive by Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State.

The victims were in two batches of 79 and 157 compris­ing men, women and children.

Some of the captives were freed by troops deployed in Oper­ation Lafiya Dole and their neigh­bouring counterparts under the Multinational Joint Task Force.

Others presented themselves to the troops, claiming that they escaped from the insurgents’ den.

In a statement on the success­es being recorded by the military in the ongoing offensive against the terrorists, the Acting Direc­tor of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman, said that the troops had been clearing the remnants of Boko Haram mili­tants in their respective areas of responsibilities and rescued the abducted persons, arrested sus­pected terrorists, and recovered weapons from them.

According to him, the troops of 81 Battalion and 251 Task Force Battalion, 25 Task Force Brigade, on May 30, 2016, received 79 per­sons who claimed to have been held captive by Boko Haram ter­rorists at Ngwalimiri village but escaped from their location.

They comprised12 men, 24 women, 31 children and 12 in­fants, Usman said, adding that they were undergoing prelimi­nary investigation and screening to determine their status before onward movement to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs’) camps for rehabilitation.

Col. Usman said that to keep Bitta-Damboa Road open and secure to commuters, troops of the 28 Task Force Brigade have cleared Bulajani, Mulgwo and Muotu villages of the remnants of Boko Haram elements.

He said during an encoun­ter at Moutu, a soldier sustained injury on the forehead, while five Boko Haram terrorists were killed by the troops while others escaped with gunshot wounds.

The troops, he explained, re­covered three locally made guns. The advancing troops linked up with their counterparts of the 25 Task Force Brigade at Gombo­ri village and rescued 157 per­sons escaping from Boko Haram terrorists’ captivity. The rescued persons comprised 47 women, 91 children, 19 men. They are cur­rently undergoing preliminary in­vestigation and thorough screen­ing to also determine their status, Col. Usman said.

Similarly, troops of 7 Divi­sion Garrison arrested a 28-year-old suspected Boko Haram ter­rorists’ spy, Musa Mallam Aman, around the Garrison Headquar­ters complex in Maiduguri me­tropolis. “Preliminary investiga­tion confirmed that he hails from Maradhi village in Niger Repub­lic and added that he was not alone as there were Boko Haram terrorists’ spies in Maiduguri. While efforts have been intensi­fied to track and arrest his oth­er accomplices, Musa has since been handed over to Joint Inter­rogation Committee (JIC).

Troops of 22 Brigade Gar­rison and their Nigerian Secu­rity and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Dikwa have also embarked on routine and fight­ing patrols to maintain security on construction and rehabilita­tion works of public buildings and infrastructure that would fa­cilitate return of public officials and people back to their ances­tral homes.

“In addition, the troops have been carrying out clearance op­erations and patrols to keep Mai­duguri-Mafa-Dikwa-Gombo­ru Ngala road open and secure.

“The troops of 26 Task Force Brigade on their part, have inten­sified patrols and clearance oper­ations in their area of responsi­bility. It was in that process that they discovered an Unexploded Object (UXO) and its casing at Hausari Street Gada Mayo, yes­terday afternoon,” he said.

In a related development, 77 Boko Haram terrorists have surrendered to troops of the122 Task Force Battalion. They comprised 17 men, 16 wom­en, 16 male children and 28 fe­male children. The surrendered terrorists have been moved to Yamteke by combined team of 26 Task Force Brigade for prelimi­nary investigation and screening, Usman said.