The Director, army public relations unit, Brigadier General Ibrahim Attahiru, has explained that the deployment of troops to volatile Nassarawa State was a step taken to thwart further spread of the crisis to other parts of the state.
Attahiru stated this yesterday while briefing newsmen about the activities of the Army. He spoke on behalf of the Army Chief, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Onyeabo Ihejirika, at the Army Headquarters in Abuja.
According to him, “Due to the heightened security situation in Nassarawa State, the federal government has ordered the deployment of NA troops in aid to civil authority in order to prevent further escalation of the violence and its spread to other parts of the state,” he said. “It is gratifying to note that the deployment of NA troops to the violence-prone area has helped in curbing the spread of violence by the Ombatse and other ethnic militia groups in Nasarawa State. The Federal and Nassarawa State governments are exploiting other ways of ensuring a quick return to normalcy.”
The Army Spokesman also added that the newly created 7 Division Army, Maiduguri, has justified its essence with the successful operations being carried out against the Boko Haram insurgents in the areas where the terrorists are based: “The newly created 7 Division of Nigerian Army headquartered in Maiduguri which became operational on 22 August 2013 has continued to carry out high tempo counter-terrorist operations in its area of operational responsibility.
His words, “As part of this effort, troops of the formation have conducted operation to pre-empt, dislocate and disrupt the insurgents’ activities in the north-east. In the process, insurgent camps located at Kitumari, Alkaderi, Kurunmati, Abali, Gajiram and Iza within the Sambisa Forest have been destroyed. Other areas where insurgents’ camps were attacked include Bulabulin and Ngaram within Maiduguri metropolis as well as Gulimba area of Gwoza.”
Continuing, he said, “The Division continues to dominate the area through aggressive mobile patrols of highways and major urban centres as part of confidence building measure to facilitate the quick return to normalcy. All these efforts are aimed at denying the terrorists the freedom of action. By and large, military operation within the 7 Division area of responsibility has been largely successful.”
“Based on this report, our troops launched a deliberate attack; over 150 insurgents were killed and the formation lost an officer and 15 soldiers. On 17 September, 2013, in the aftermath of the insurgents’ defeat at Kafiya Forest, some fleeing insurgents carried out an attack on Benisheikh town in Kaga local government area of Borno State. In the process, a lot of civilians were killed by the insurgents. Our troops located at the Forward Operating Base on the outskirts of the town moved in to repel the onslaught and cleared Benisheikh town of insurgents. Several insurgents were killed and equipment destroyed. Our troops continue to carry out patrols to dominate the general area, Attahiru added.
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