Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole and the Cameroonian Defence Forces have killed 15 Boko Haram insurgents in separate encounters in Southern Lake Chad Basin.
In statement signed on Thursday by Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, the Deputy Director Public Relations of Theatre Command Operation Lafiya Dole, he explained that four men, 33 women and 16 children were rescued by the troops from the insurgents’ hideouts.
Nwachukwu said the rescued hostages are currently being profiled and would be handed over to officials of the Internally Displaced Persons Camp for documentation and administering.
The troops killed the insurgents whilst conducting operations to clear remnants of Boko Haram insurgents in the Lake Chad Islands and surrounding villages of northern Borno.
He added that the troops had removed the insurgents from their hideout after a fierce battle, killing 11 insurgents in Gomaran village of Southern Lake Chad Basin.
Nwachukwu added that in two other separate encounters the troops encountered fleeing insurgents in Firgi and Moula, both in Bama and Dikwa Local Governments Areas of Borno State and killed 4 Boko Haram insurgents.
The statement reads: "The clearance operations also led to the recovery of one Single Barrel Gun, one Dane gun and one locally made pistol.
"Other items recovered from the dislodged insurgents include 4 Motorcycles, motorcycle spare parts, 2 tricycles, 6 pumping machines, and 2 power generating sets".
However, the troops captured 2 Boko Haram flags, a pair of Camouflage uniform, a pair of combat boots, a Camera, a bag of mechanical tools and medications.
In another development, an aged Boko Haram terrorist has killed himself in a suicide bomb attack around a telephone mast in Konduga in Borno state.
The elderly man pretending to be weak and feeble was being searched by men of the Civilian Joint Task Force, when he detonated a suicide vest contained in a bag he was carrying.
The Deputy Director noted that three Civilian Joint Task Force members paid the supreme price in the incident.
He said that the incident points to the variation in the tactics of the Boko Haram terrorists in their uncanny resolve to deceptively infiltrate communities and towns to mindlessly attack vulnerable and soft targets.
He added that the terrorists, aside women and children, now use the aged in suicide bombing as witnessed in this recent incident.
He said, "They have also been detected to now appear clean and well dressed to look unsuspicious and enable them gain access to targets marked for suicide attack.
"Some of the terrorists have also been found to now conceal their suicide vests by wearing it on the thigh rather than the waist to appear less bulky and evade detection when searched.”
He called on the public to be vigilant and discerning as they go about their normal daily routines and activities.
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