Nigerian military authorities have hailed the cooperation of civilians which enabled troops of the Special Forces to apprehend some insurgents who were in search of large quantity of food.
The Director of Defence Information, Brig Gen Chris Olukolade said the civilians provided timely information that led to the tracking of the Boko Haram members who are now in the custody of the special troops.
“The intensive cordon and search operation being conducted by the troops of the Special Forces received a major boost from civilian cooperation in communities close to locations being focused in the operation yesterday.
“A group of terrorists moving from village to village in search of large quantity of food were tracked and apprehended following a tip off from civilians.
“The group which was moving around in a Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep with registration number Borno XA 428 ADM which is suspected to have been stolen was eventually arrested at DabanMasara with weapons such as AK 47 rifle, single barrel shotgun, double hand shotgun and various calibres of ammunition”.
Olukolade also disclosed that another 56 insurgents were apprehended with the aid of Military Police Dogs, adding that many weapons including vehihes, camouflage and other military uniforms were recovered from them in the process.
His words, “In other locations, a total of 56 identified insurgents were apprehended with the help of Military Police Dogs. Items recovered from the arrested insurgents include, two packs of IEDs, two Rocket Propelled Gun chargers, a rifle magazine, two machetes, bomb detonators, camouflage and other military uniforms as well as medicines equipment, charms, seven vehicles including a Jeep and eight tri-cycles.
“It is believed that some stranded terrorists are keen on establishing new camps. They are being trailed accordingly. There were also a few encounters with some insurgents in forest locations apart from the identified and destroyed camps. The campaign to rid the nation’s territories of the insurgents continues”.
