Crime

Boko Haram becoming stronger

Published

10 years ago

November 15, 2016

The dreaded Boko Haram terrorists who the Federal Government claimed have been technically defeated are becoming more deadly towards the end of the year.

The terrorists, this Tuesday, killed a senior officer of the Nigerian Army in a sporadic attack.

It was revealed that Lieutenant Colonel B.U. Umar, Commanding Officer of 114 TF Battalion of the Nigerian Army, was ambushed alongside his troops on Monday morning between Bita and Piridang.

His vehicle was disclosed to have ran unto an improvised explosive device but he came out unhurt.

Lieutenant Colonel B.U. Umar, however, became unlucky when “He came out to assess the damage on the vehicle and Boko Haram opened fire and killed him in the process.”

The soldiers were said to be on their way to Yola in Adamawa State from Bita in Borno State when the incident occurred.

The full casualty from the attack was not yet clear as at the time of this report.

Late Umar, who recently took over the command of the 114 battalion about three weeks ago, was a member of the 48 Regular Course in the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA).

Meanwhile, the Army spokesperson, Sani Usman, was said to have acknowledged that he was unaware of Umar’s killing by Boko Haram.

It will be recalled that the killing of Umar took place about a week after Lieutenant Colonel Muhammed Abu-Ali, and his troops were killed in another ambush by Boko Haram; an attack that military authorities said that 14 Boko Haram insurgents and four other soldiers died.

The attacks by the Boko Haram have continued despite ongoing negotiation with the federal government. The negotiations already led to the release of 21 of the over 200 Chibok girls kidnapped by the sect in 2014.