The Theater Commander for Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Leo Irabor, told the media on Friday that fifteen soldiers, three Civilian JTF members, and three officers—including the cousin to the Chief of Defense Staff Gabriel Olonishakin—have been declared missing following a fierce gun battle with Boko Haram. The battle, according to Mr. Irabor, took place in Borno State.
This news follow a report by SaharaReporters yesterday where the Minister of the Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, told an audience at the Centre for Crisis Management that Boko Haram had been downgraded and “routed out of their major enclaves.”
Mr. Irabor, speaking at the media headquarters for Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri, Borno State, added that “our hearts go out to the families of missing officers and soldiers, especially Chief of Defense Staff for his cousin who is missing in action.”
He narrated that army troops, while on clearance patrol in the Guro Gongon village and surrounding areas in Borno State, began destroying make-shift camps of Boko Haram and recovering weapons, equipment, and foodstuff.
He continued by saying soldiers “returning to their defensive locations, ran into an ambush by a group of Boko Haram terrorists who came to reinforce their fleeing comrades. The troops fought back gallantly killing several of the insurgents.”
It was during the firefight that the Nigerian soldiers went missing. Their whereabouts is not known at the time of publication.
