ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – Boko Haram terrorists escaping military onslaught have devised ingenious ways of evading being apprehended by the advancing troops by hiding inside fox holes in parts of Borno State.
This was disclosed in a statement signed on Monday by the Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Col. Sani Usman.
Usman said that in compliance with the Military High Command’s directive which is to ensure that all villages and towns are cleared of remnants of the terrorists, troops of 22 Brigade Garrison in Operation Lafiya Dole, on Sunday cleared four villages of the Boko Haram hiding in the area.
According to him, the terrorists hibernating in Cinga, Mallum Maja, Bosuma and Murye villages, were armed with dangerous weapons and dane guns, three machetes, a bow with arrows, six motor cycles used by the terrorists to ferry slaughtered cow meats to their hideouts were recovered and burnt.
He listed other items recovered to include a tricycle, four Tiger generators and a solar panel.
“The troops also recovered 300 herds of cattle rustled by the Boko Haram terrorists from Fulani herdsmen and handed over to their rightful owners,” he stated.
Similarly, he said, 400 persons held hostage by the terrorists were rescued and set free.
“It is gratifying to state that we have not sustained any casualty to own troops and equipment and troops morale remain very high,” he noted.
In a related development, the Joint Task Force (JTF), on Operation Restore Order (ORO,) said it had arrested suspected killers of war veteran, Maj-Gen. Mohammadu Shuwa, in Maiduguri, Borno State.
The JTF spokesman, Lt-Col. Sagir Musa, who disclosed this in a statement in Maiduguri, said the arrest followed series of investigations by the task force.
“It will be recalled that an elder statesman, retired Maj.-Gen. Mohammadu Shuwa, was shot dead by gunmen in front of his house in Gwange, Maiduguri on November 12, 2012.
“Preliminary investigation by the JTF has identified two key suspected Boko Haram terrorists: Mohammed Ibn Saleh and Abdulkareem Ibrahim, as the masterminds of the killing,” Musa said.
