Nigerian Army recalls soldiers from study leave to fight Boko Haram

 

The Nigerian Army has recalled a large number of its personnel studying in civil institutions (universities and polytechnics) across the country in order to tackle the raging insurgency in the North East.

This is contained in a leaked memo by the Nigerian Army Headquarters, Department of Army Training, Abuja.

In the memo dated May 11 and obtained by Punch, the Nigerian Army also suspended the sponsorship of personnel in civil institutions with the exemption of students in the final year.

The army has continued to suffer heavy casualties in its counter-insurgency operations that have seen hundreds of Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists also killed by gallant Nigerian troops.

In one of the recent attacks, more than 30 soldiers were reportedly killed in April when Islamic State-aligned fighters ambushed a military convoy escorting weapons and overran a base in Mainok, Borno State.

A month earlier, about 30 soldiers were reportedly killed in four attacks by Islamist militants in the North-East.

On April 1, 2021, five soldiers and two villagers were killed in the Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. About 10 soldiers were also killed in the Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State on April 9.

On April 26, wherein 40 persons were killed in Anambra, Imo, Kebbi and Rivers states, two soldiers and three policemen were among the casualties.

In March 2020, at least 70 soldiers were killed in an ambush by ISWAP terrorists, AFP reported.

The insurgents reportedly fired rocket-propelled grenades at a lorry carrying troops as it travelled near Gorgi village in Borno State.

The Islamic State West Africa Province faction split from Boko Haram insurgents in 2016 and has focused on attacking troops, raiding bases and laying ambush on military convoys.

The decade-long Boko Haram insurgency has killed around 40,000 people and displaced over two million in the North-East, according to the International Crisis Group.

The military has also recorded many gains against the insurgents foiling their attempts to take over territories and also neutralising them in their numbers.

For instance, the troops sometime in April eliminated at least 40 Boko Haram terrorists in the town of Dikwa in Borno State. Several other members of the terrorist group were reportedly wounded but managed to escape.

In another operation in the same month, troops killed at least 21 Boko Haram terrorists in the Geidam region of Yobe State, according to a statement by the Army spokesperson, Brig Gen Mohammed Yerima.

Source: Punch