The Special Forces in Borno State on
Monday said about 120 terrorists have been arrested in Maiduguri, the
state capital, as they organised a burial ceremony for one of their
commanders who died in an encounter with soldiers.
Defence spokesman, Brigadier General
Chris Olukolade, in a press statement disclosed that the arrested
insurgents were in the custody of the Joint Task Force (JTF) where they
were being interrogated.
He said the Special Forces had now
secured the environs of New Marte, Hausari, Krenoa, Wulgo and Chikun
Ngulalo, all in Borno state, after destroying all the terrorists’ camps
sited in these localities.
The statement said that the troops were
already interacting with locals and citizens assuring them of their
safety and freedom from the activities of insurgents.
Brigadier General Olukolade said
terrorists fleeing towards Chad and Niger Republic are being contained
by the Multi-National Joint Task Force in various locations at the
border.
He said during the raid on terrorist
camps, the troops observed a few shallow graves believed to be those of
hurriedly buried members.
Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters said
it had observed the use of photographs purportedly taken in the areas
raided by the Special Forces and wished to state that the photographs
were questionable as they did not reflect any related reality of the
social or geographical environment.
He said the story and pictures depicting Nigerians fleeing to Niger Republic and other countries were doubtful.
More than 2,000 Nigerians living in
border villages in Borno State were reported to have fled as a result of
the ongoing military operations targeted at routing the insurgents from
the area.
The fleeing villagers were said to have headed to the neighbouring Niger Republic.
“Most of the residents of border
villages of Borno have fled to Niger. About 2,000 people from Abadan,
Malam Fatori and other villages are now refugees in Difa, Niger
Republic,” a top security officer told a national dailies.
The source said that the Joint Military
Task Force was on the trail of the members of the Boko Haram sect, who
were dislodged from the Sambisa Game Reserve and other camps on Thursday
in Borno State.
It was learnt that residents of
Maiduguri and other communities far from the border, who did not want to
be caught in the cross-fire have also fled to some neighbouring states,
including Kano and Bauchi
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