87 Boko Haram Fighters, Families Surrender to Troops

Kingsley Nwezeh

The Nigerian Army yesterday said that 87 more fighters of terrorist groups, Boko Haram and Islamic State for West African Province (ISWAP) and their families surrendered to troops in Borno State.

The Nigerian Army said last week that 73 insurgents and their families including women and children surrendered to troops of 202 Battalion, who took them into custody in Ruwaza village in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State.

A war update issued by Army Spokesman, Brigadier-General Onyema Nwachukwu, stated that in continuation of the ongoing intensive clearance operations across the theatre of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), “more Boko Haram terrorists and elements of Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) and their families, who have hitherto hibernated around the fringes of Sambisa forest have yielded to troops’ heavy artillery and air bombardments and surrendered to troops at Forward Operational Base (FOB) Banki Junction/BOCOBS in Bama, Borno State on August 2, 2021”.

It said the terrorists also surrendered several assorted weapons and incendiaries, comprising 19 male fighters, 19 adult females and 49 children from Njimia village and environs.

“The terrorists lamented that the ground and condition in the forest have become untenable, hence their surrendering”, it said. The update listed the fire arms and incendiaries recovered from the terrorists to include, eight AK 47 rifles, one General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), two Fabrique Nationale (FN) rifles, one dane gun,one Makarov pistol, and 89 rounds of 7.62mm (special) ammunition.

Others include: 89 rounds of 12.7mm ammunition, 66 rounds of 7.62mm (NATO) ammunition, 5 x 9mm rounds of ammunition, two hand grenades, 27 AK 47 rifle magazines and two FN rifle magazines.

Others weapons recovered from them are one pistol magazine, 1 x 60mm mortar bomb, 10 x14.5mm empty cases, two primed suicide vests, 72 trigger switches, 10 primed Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), five electric detonating chords, six packs of water gel explosives and six mobile phones.

Other items recovered include one camel pack, one cammoulage bag, two hard drives, one plier, two unserviceable hand held radios, two scissors, and needles, two match boxes and the sum of N55,000.

It said “the terrorists and their families were presently undergoing comprehensive security profiling and preliminary investigations, while the children have been administered with oral polio vaccines”.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Faruk Yahaya, commended the troops for the sustained offensive and clearance operations conducted in the theatre.

He charged them to maintain the momentum of the operations.