About 250 Nigerian soldiers stationed in Banki, a Cameroonian border town with Nigeria, have fled into the neighboring country, according to reports from Cameroonian soldiers in the area.
The account says that the Nigerian soldiers left their duty post and fled with their arms, first into a neighboring village called Amtide, before surrendering to their Cameroonian counterparts.
The soldiers were being repatriated to Mubi, in Adamawa State, following debriefing by Cameroon.
It is the second time in two weeks that Nigerian troops have defected into Cameroon.
Of the first, on August 25, military spokesman General Chris Olukolade downplayed the issue. “The Nigerian troops that were found in Cameroon was as a result of a sustained battle between the troops and the terrorists around the borders with Cameroon which saw the Nigerian troops charging through the borders in a tactical manoeuvre,” he explained.
Also earlier today Nigerian soldiers in Mafa in Borno state deserted the town without any fight or attack from Boko Haram and returned to Maiduguri's Maimalari barracks.
SaharaReporters made several ttempts to get the Director of Defense Information Major General Olukolade to react to the latest report of desertion by soldiers but an information aide said he was in meetings all day.