In a bid to guarantee victory over Boko Haram before the elections, a detachment of the Nigerian military has stormed the Sambisa Forest in Borno State to dislodge members of the violent sect, Boko Haram, who are believed to have used the forest as their stronghold, from where they unleash their terrorist activities.
Sambisa Forest was once believed to be the most feared hideout of the militants, where over 200 schoolgirls, who were abducted from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014, were held captive.
It was learnt that the military high command decided to invade the vast forest in order to make the North-West safe for the general elections.
A reliable source in the Army told one of our correspondents in Abuja that Air Force jets started the raid on Monday. He added that surveillance activities and raids were also ongoing as of the time he spoke on Wednesday.
The source, who did not want his name in print because he was not authorised to speak on the development, said that massive ground operation would follow the aerial operations .
He said, “The military started an operation in the Sambisa Forest on Monday. For now, there are no specific cases of arrest; we don’t have that information now. The Air Force has been operating in the area since Monday. It is after that that the ground troops who are on red alert would be moved in.”
Also, a source close to an office strategic to the operations said that a lot of activities were going on simultaneously in the forest and other parts of the North-East believed to host Boko Haram camps.
He explained that the military was combing the forest because of intelligence reports that some of the insurgents who were dislodged from some communities in the North- East were moving back to the forest.
The Director, Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, could not be reached for comments on the raids as calls to his mobile did not connect.
Meanwhile, 800 children from areas affected by insurgency in Adamawa State are currently undergoing psychotherapy in the state.
Executive Chairman of the state Universal Basic Education, Bello Furo, who made this known explained that the psychotherapy was to minimise the trauma faced by the children whose parents were either gunned down or slaughtered by Boko Haram insurgents.
He said, “The process will take some time because most of the parents were slaughtered before their children.
“Right now, they do not have anybody to cater for them; they lost their parents as a result of the insurgency.”
Also in the state on Wednesday, the wife of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Aisha Buhari donated drugs worth N135m to Internally Displaced Persons in Damare.
Aisha, who said that it was unfortunate that the IDPs were refugees in their own country, showed sympathy and asked them to be steadfast in their prayers for peace to return to the country, especially the North-East.
Meanwhile, Boko Haram fighters attacked Chadian army positions in Gamboru, Borno State on Wednesday but were beaten back.
The Chadian troops are in Gamboru as part of a regional offensive against the islamist sect, which had staged several cross-border attacks over the past week.
“We knew they were going to attack us. We were waiting. The battle didn’t last long. They fled,” a Chadian soldier said.
He said that eight of his colleaques were wounded while three Boko Haram vehicles were destroyed and one seized.
The Chadian Army later said in a statement that 13 Boko Haram fighters and a soldier lost their lives during the attack.
Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Wednesday in Diffa, Niger Republic, a day after mortars and machine-gun shots were heard in N’Guigmi on the country’s border with Nigeria.
The town lies near Lake Chad, around 100 kilometres east of Diffa. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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God be with you guys as you take this risky voyage.
ReplyDeleteAmen oooo.... May God make it very fruitful
Deletewelldone military, he no easy, Nigerians can sit down in the confort of their room and discredit the military, these same people that cant even handle a small gun, continue to rain abuse on nigerian army
ReplyDeleteKEEP UP the WAR on TERROR GUYS.
ReplyDeleteOh GOD please protect these men who are sacrificing their lives for others.Please give them divine support and victory over the enemies of your people.Thank you JESUS
ReplyDeleteAmen.
DeleteThe True God is on Ur side.
ReplyDeleteMay God protect our troops in JESUS Name! I decree the BLOOD of JESUS on them right about now, Amen. #PrayForNigeria
ReplyDeletewhy did it take this long before the military could enter the Sambisa?
ReplyDeleteMay the not b immortals lyk shakau their boss who now has nine lives
ReplyDeleteGod bless our veterans and give them victory
ReplyDeleteI pray God protect you all nigerian troops.........God bless
ReplyDeleteYou are asKing why it took them this long, if you are a Nigerian you would have known that the President said our Military is not weak it is just that there were no weapon, they are facing BH who has surfisticated weapon that was why he was begging US to sell to us which they refused ,he tried buying from South Africa, which failed, but now the weapons have been acquired and they are demonstrating their skill.
ReplyDeleteYou are asking why it took them this long, if you are a Nigerian you would have known that the President said that our military is not weak it is just that they have no weapons, they are fighting Boko Haram who has surfisticated weapons that was why he tried to buy weapons from US which refused and are ready to send their solders, he said we need weapons and not US occupation in Nigeria , he tried to buy from South Africa which also failed, but now we have acquired weapons and they are demonstrating their skills
ReplyDeleteLet's wait for Ebele whho wants to. Wiipe out BH in 6weeks when he had 6yrs and cudnt do anything. See election postponement now having a dire effect on our economy, dollar has shot up to N201 against 1 dollar
ReplyDeleteImagine!! Since 9 months ago (270 days), our president boosting of solution now. We all know that dis is totally Silly. Imagine what dos girls must have pass tru for nine month. We need to understand one thing that b4 we pray, we act. Heaven wouldn't come down if u keep praying and u u'l self is acting sluggishly.
ReplyDeleteIf I may ask,what have you done for this country? If you have a solution and patriotic as claimed why not join the Nigerian Army to recover the girls. You people want the president to commit genocide but you all will fail. The militant in the Niger Delta embraced amnesty because they were fighting a just cause and most importantly, they have the love of this country at heart, Why not ask yourself why is it that this Islamist that call themselves Boko Haram refused the-same instead of pointing accusation fingers at the president. The one that is most annoying is the idea of presenting a candidate that will eventually pave way for the Islamist to the south in the name of "Negative Change". I bet you all, it will surely not work. We shall see.
ReplyDeleteMay God see you guys through this jorny
ReplyDeleteMakes perfect sense!!! Im guessing they storm the forest just after the Boko Haram tells them it is safe to enter, because they have relocated. I am not particularly angry about the government not doing anything in Nigeria, because Nigeria will continue to be a joke until we all (Nigerians) decide to enforce a change and hold our leaders responsible for their actions. It hurts me more that our government keeps treating Nigerians like fools by acting up some silly scripts and expecting us to foolishly be mused at the drama. So since April 2014, the military just decided to storm sambisa forest now. The fact that they can come up with this stupid story is insulting to Nigerians. Is Jonathan or Buhari the change we need? No one knows. All I know is that to make Nigeria a great nation is not rocket science. This is one country so designed by God NOT TO FAIL. So for Nigeria to be in a mess today is the result of the hard work of our leaders. We Nigerians have our fault as we are just used to adapting to difficulties. We need change? WE ARE THE CHANGE, NOT THE LEADERS.
ReplyDelete