The Nigeriam army has put the figure of its officers that
died in the various attacks carried out by Boko Haram this month at 39 and not
118.
In a statement issued on behalf of the chief of army staff,
Sani Usman, a brigadier general, said the 53 soldiers were wounded in the
various attacks that was carried out by members of the Islamic State in West
Africa (ISWA), a faction of the Boko Haram sect. Part of the statement reads
“In the recent weeks, Nigerian troops deployed in the North
East of Nigeria under Operation LAFIYA DOLE have come under series of attacks
by large numbers of Boko Haram Terrorists,” he said.
“Specifically, the Nigerian Army troops deployed at KUKAWA,
NGOSHE, KARETO and GAJIRAM came under attack at different times within a 2 week
period from 2 – 17th November 2018. Each of these incidents were successfully
repelled and several members of the terrorists were killed. However, a total of
16 personnel were killed in the course of these attacks while 12 soldiers were
wounded in action and are receiving treatment at our military medical
facilities.
“As you are all aware, Nigeria is contributing troops to the
Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) which has its headquarters in
N’djamena, in the Republic of Chad. One of the Nigerian battalions (157 TF Bn),
deployed under the auspices of the MNJTF was attacked at their Base on the
outskirts of a town called METELE on 18th November 2018. During the attack, the
troops were forced to withdraw and several casualties were recorded. As at date
23 personnel were killed in action and 31 personnel were wounded in action and
have been evacuated to several medical hospitals within Borno State. The
Nigerian Army commiserates with the MNJTF at this difficult time and wishes to
state that all necessary support will be rendered to the MNJTF to reverse this
resurgence of the Boko Haram Terrorists.
“The Nigerian Army wishes to further commiserate with the
families of the gallant officers and soldiers that paid the supreme price in
the course of defending their fatherland. The sacrifices of these fallen heroes
will not be in vain. We also wish all those wounded in action speedy recovery
and assure them of our continued support and care.
“The incident of 18th November 2018, happened at a time when
the Nigerian Army was planning to hold the Chief of Army Staff Annual
Conference for 2018 in Benin City, Edo State. On account of this incident, the
Conference had to be moved from Benin City to Maiduguri to enable the Nigerian
Army leadership get closer to the troops on the ground and to better appraise
our activities, assess our performance and identify our shortcomings as an
Army.”
