One soldier, many Boko Haram mercenaries killed in Borno

                            

• 70 surrendered suspects urge colleagues to lay down arms
One soldier and many Boko Haram mercenaries were killed on Monday in two separate battles in Borno State.

A statement by Army Spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Sani Usman said the mercenaries launched two separate attacks on military formations in the state.

He said the troops repelled and killed many of them who were fighting on the side of the Mamman Nur faction of the Boko Haram.

Sani did not give details on the nationalities of the mercenaries that were killed during the ambush.

The statement reads: “On Monday evening, a group of suspected Boko Haram mercenaries of the Mamman Nur extraction, paid dearly with their lives when they dared to attack 81 Division Task Force Battalion’s location at Gulumba Gana in Bama Local Council Area of the state.

“The troops successfully dealt with the terrorists and pursued those who escaped. They recovered two AK-47 rifles and two magazines of nine rounds of ammunition, two AGL bombs, several empty cases of Shilka gun ammunition, AGL bomb and one damaged mobile phone handset.

“Similarly, troops of 3 Battalion located at Logomani, Dikwa Local Council Area, neutralised three Boko Haram terrorists, captured one alive and recovered three AK-47 rifles from the faction that dared to attack their locations yesterday at about 7:00pm. However, we lost a soldier during the pursuit.”

Boko Haram became factionalised in 2016, following a leadership tussle between Abubakar Shekau and his second in command, Mamman Nur.

They allegedly disagreed over who should be recognised by the Abubakar Albaghdadi-led ISIS in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, some of the surrendered terrorists from the Bita-Yamtake axis have urged other insurgents to lay down their arms.

They made the call in Maiduguri yesterday, when the Theatre Commander, Maj-Gen Ibrahim Attahiru paraded 57, out of the 70 suspects at the Maimalari Cantonment.

The insurgents, between 13 and 60 said: “We were forced by Boko Haram to take arms and fight the police and soldiers in Sambisa Forest of Gwoza.”