REMNANTS of Boko Haram fighters who were battered in Friday’s ill-fated attack on the Giwa Army Barracks, Maiduguri, yesterday regrouped on the outskirts of the city for a fresh onslaught on the same military facility, but again met with defeat.
Troops who were on a cordon and search operation at Kayamla and Alu Dam discovered the insurgents.
A clash soon ensued.
Many of them were killed with sources putting the death toll on the side of the insurgents at close to 80
between Friday and yesterday.
The sect also lost a massive armoury which troops discovered to contain a large cache of arms and ammunition.
The Boko Haram desperation, military sources told The Nation, was to liberate their strategic commanders in custody to prevent them from revealing vital information to the army.
Security agencies are said to be taking stock of the number of fleeing terrorists who were killed in different parts of Maiduguri metropolis on Friday.
Seven suspected insurgents were arrested around Lake Chad by the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF).
A top military source said of the Boko Haram attack: “What they did was to regroup in Maiduguri to attack our troops because they were desperate to bring down Giwa Army Barracks where some of their commanders and deadly fighters were being detained and interrogated.
“With the latest encounters, the death toll in the encounters with troops at the barracks will be about 80. The Nigeria Police and emergency agencies should be able to give you the toll in different parts of the city because many insurgents were killed while fleeing or retreating.”
Explaining why the sect was targeting Giwa Barracks, the source said: “The Boko Haram leaders would rather want their detained members killed than allow them undergo interrogation which could lead to revelations on their modus operandi.
“No fewer than 20 of their real kingpins or strategic commanders were being kept in the detention facility in Giwa Barracks and they considered it humiliating if they cannot set them free.
“But they are wasting their time because some of these Boko Haram commanders are in underground cells outside Maiduguri. It is an error on their part to think that we will keep their strategists in such a facility.
“Thirdly, Boko Haram leaders are worried that those detained might expose the sponsors or financiers of the sect. That was why they came in hundreds to attack Giwa Barracks.”
The Defence Headquarters, confirming yesterday’s confrontation, in a statement through its spokesman, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said troops clashed with the insurgents in Kayamla and Alu Dam in the outskirts of Maiduguri.
The DHQ also said a massive armoury of the sect was uncovered by troops with a large cache of arms and ammunition recovered.
He said: “The large quantities of weapons recovered in the raid are still being evacuated from the scene of the night raid where several terrorists died.
“Similar operations took place in coordination with the troops of Multi-National Joint Task Force in the raids in other camps located in the outskirts of Duguri, Polkime, Malafatori and other locations around the fringes of Lake Chad.
“Substantial money in different currencies and denominations were also recovered from the camps. A total of seven terrorists were captured in the operation during which altogether a soldier died while five were wounded.”
The DHQ also said that in a cordon and search by troops for remnants of the terrorists who attacked Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri yesterday (Friday), had an encounter with some of the surviving terrorists in the general area of Kayamla and Alu Dam in the outskirts of Maiduguri this morning.
“More of the terrorists have been killed and arrested in the ongoing encounters. Those captured in the encounter are providing useful information towards the discovery of other hide outs of the daring terrorists.”
More bodies of fleeing terrorists have been discovered along the routes of their escape. Troops morale and fighting spirit have been further boosted by the outcome of the operations so far.
