A fierce gunfight
launched
against the fundamentalist Islamist group, Boko Haram, by
Camerounian soldiers has led to the killing of no fewer than
180 insurgents and two gendarmes around a Nigerian border with
Cameroun.
It was gathered that
during the battle which took place on Tuesday evening, many of the
wounded insurgents were also arrested.
About 200 rifles, 70
machine guns and heavy military hardware were said to have been recovered
from the insurgents by the soldiers.
A reliable military
source confirmed the development to our correspondent shortly after the
the Nigerian Army in Kano State disclosed that it had foiled a plot to
bomb Kano during the forthcoming Sallah festival by uncovering
a bomb factory in Gezawa Local Government Area.
It was gathered that
the Camerounian authorities directed the soldiers to launch the
attack against the Nigerian gunmen, who had earlier on
Tuesday, ambushed and killed two gendarmes on patrol in the border
community.
Our source said
the soldiers, while pursuing the insurgents, sent a
signal to their Nigerian counterparts, to be on the
alert to avoid the escape of the fleeing insurgents.
According to the
source, the number of those killed, the arrests and the
recovered arms indicated that many Boko Haram members,
who were forced out of Nigeria through military operations, had already
“settled comfortably” in Cameroun.
He said, “The
Camerounian troops have been involved in a serious confrontation with the
insurgents. They have killed over 180 of them.
“Almost 200 rifles and
70 machine guns were recovered from them by Camerounian soldiers.
“What led to this
operation was that the insurgents killed two gendarmes on patrol around
the border with Nigeria on Tuesday. I think this angered them to order a
comprehensive raid of the hideouts of the insurgents.
“You can see from
the casualty figure and the level of seizures that they were already
comfortable in that part of Cameroun until this incident.
“Ironically, the
Camerounians who had been reluctant in spite of complaints by Nigeria at
the diplomatic level are the ones now reaching out to us to ensure that
the fleeing insurgents are not allowed to escape. So, I can tell you that the
heat is on them.”
It was also
gathered that Nigerien soldiers in the Multinational Joint
Task Force killed an unspecified number of Boko Haram members
on some island communities near Lake Chad on Sunday.
Investigations
revealed that the Nigerien component of the MNJTF went after the
insurgents on learning of the killing of one of them.
Our source
said the intensified military action against the insurgents had made the
nation’s northern border rather too hot for them.
When our
correspondent contacted the Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen Chris
Olukolade, he said, “Our neighbouring countries, either through the
instrumentality of the Multi National Joint Task Force or through their
security instruments, are involved in operations to complement what we
are doing against terrorism.
“I am aware that the
MNJTF and Nigerian security agencies are combing everywhere
for any strange movement in our territory,” Olukolade said.
Also in Abuja on
Wednesday, the Commander ‘3’ Brigade of the Nigerian Army,
Brig. Gen Illiyasu Abba, said that operatives raided a house in
Gunduwawa, Gezawa LGA and discovered a bomb factory.
He told
journalists at a press briefing in Kano that bomb making items
recovered from the factory were meant to carry out attacks in Kano during
the Sallah and other festivals this year.
A young man
suspected to be a child of the owner of the house rented
out to the suspected terrorists was shot dead.
Abba said, “At
about 2 am on October 8, a combined team of the JTF troops and Department
of State Services raided two Boko Haram terrorists’ hideouts at Gunduwawa
village in the Gezawa Local Government Area.
“The raid, which
was conducted following a lead on intelligence reports, made no arrests as the
terrorists fled the village on the approach of the JTF troops and DSS
personnel.
“The
weapons and other dangerous materials were meant to wreak havoc on Kano
during the Eid-el-Kabir and other festivities before the end of the year.’’
He listed
Improvised Explosive Devices, ‘two AK 58 with 193 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition,
one AK 47 magazine with 107 rounds of 5.56 millimeter ammunition, bows
and arrows as some of the recovered items.
Three primed cylinders
of IEDs, one primed explosive suicide back pack, 18 empty IED cylinders, 24
detonators, a small bag of fertiliser, IED timers
cortex wires, three remote control devices, five Motorola hand held radios,
four communicators, six alarm clocks, two cartons of nine -volt
batteries, a scale, one external hard drive and one heavy duty charger/battery
were also recovered from the house.
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