Military thwarts terrorists’ attack on Niger military base, nabs high profile terrorists

The Defence Headquarters says Nigerian troops on Oct. 29 repelled an attack by the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists at Wawa Cantonment in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Musa Danmadami, made this known at a bi-weekly news briefing on the operations of armed forces on Thursday in Abuja.

Danmadami said the attack was repelled in a coordinated land and air operations which led to the killing of six terrorists and capture of 18 others while their equipment were captured and destroyed.

“Following the engagement, troops neutralised three terrorists, captured five and recovered one HK 21 gun, nine PKT gun, 598 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 676 rounds of 7.62 special, 3,902 rounds of AK49 ammunition, two RPG tubes, seven RPG bombs, one grenade and three cartons of Improvised Explosive Devices accessories.

“Other items recovered include two vehicles, two motorola radios, two radio chargers, cartons of drip, motorcycles, cell phones and other sundry items.

Equally, a follow up and exploitation operation was conducted by troops in conjunction with vigilantes at Tungan Gagara and Damala villages where contacts was made with the terrorist. After a fire fight, 13 terrorists were arrested while several others jumped into the river.

“Consequently, similar operation was carried out on Nov. 1 at Babusara village where troops neutralised three terrorists while other fled in disarray,” he said.

Danmadami also said the troops of Guards Brigade raided an illegal mining site at Tukashara Wasa, Apo, in Abuja Municipal Area Council on Oct. 30 and apprehended 60 suspected illegal miners.

He said the troops also nabbed two trailers loaded with illegal mined items.

On the terror alert by the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, the Director, Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Jimmy Akpor, said the Nigerian military and other security agencies were not relenting on their responsibilities to protect the citizens.

Akpor said the nation’s security agencies were not oblivious of the security situation in the country, adding that the country did not rely on any foreign power to safeguard its citizens.

He urged the media to support the military and security agencies in feeding the public with the right information as they emanated from the managers of the nation’s security.