PREMIUM TIMES has obtained exclusive details of how insurgents ambushed a detachment of Nigerian troops and hours after overran a fortified military base, inflicting maximum damage.

In an assault that has now created fresh complications for the military operation in war-ravaged North-east, suspected Boko Haram insurgents last weekend attacked troops in Borno and Yobe states, killing soldiers, plundering equipment and supplies and torching even larger quantity of equipment and supplies.

The terrorists hit a convoy of officers, soldiers, informants, local vigilante members and hunters in the first attack on July 13. The early morning ambush, which occurred in Bama Local Government Area, Borno State, initially left five officers and 60 soldiers missing. But most of the troops later found their way back to base by the next morning.

The following day, insurgents swarmed 81 Division Task Force Brigade in Jilli, near Geidam, Yobe State. Three Nigerian Army officers and 28 soldiers were confirmed killed in the attack, military sources who examined the aftermath of the attacks informed PREMIUM TIMES.

Sources disclosed that one officer and 24 soldiers who survived varying but serious degrees of injuries during the attack are currently undergoing treatment at medical facilities in Maiduguri, Borno State, and Damaturu, Yobe State.

Two members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) were also killed in the Jilli attack, while three of their colleagues who sustained serious injury are at the hospital in Maiduguri. Four CJTF members went missing in the attack, while the fate of five remained undetermined.

An officer and two soldiers were acknowledged missing in action in the Bama attack by the Nigerian Army 7 Division Headquarters in Maiduguri. But multiple military sources told PREMIUM TIMES that three officers and nine soldiers were still missing in action as at July 16.

In both attacks, insurgents suffered at least 10 casualties, but were able to cart away military equipment and supplies, both ranging from assorted gun trucks to food items in storage facilities.

The Army downplayed the degree of troops’ setbacks in its reaction to initial news reports about the Bama attack, saying in a July 16 statement that only one officer and one soldier were injured.

Texas Chukwu, a brigadier general and Army spokesperson, completely ignored media enquiries and reports about the attack on the military base in Jilli.

Unsolved cases of missing soldiers

The resurgent Boko Haram fighters are at the peak of their raining season onslaught and have been ramping up their campaign against security forces.

Despite claims by President Muhammadu Buhari that his administration has boosted their morale and technically defeated Boko Haram, the troops claimed they are still beset by a high death toll, desertions and arbitrary deductions from their entitlements by senior officers, making it difficult for them to beat back the insurgents despite driving them away from the Sambisa forests.

Source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/277090-exclusive-untold-story-of-boko-harams-deadly-attacks-on-nigerian-troops-in-borno-yobe.html

Ahmed Salkida reported something similar. In his narrative , more than 100 troops lost their lives in the ambush . It is so sad to see the government lie regarding its phyrric victory again these insurgents.