How military rescued wife of Shekau’s personal physician

SADIQ ABUBAKAR, who attended the monthly press briefing on the activities of Operation Lafiya Dole, reports among others how the military is routing out the terrorist sect out of the dreaded Sambisa Forest, and northeast axis of the country
Update
The Theater Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Rogers Nicholas, at the monthly press briefing on Wednesday, said that NAF have in the period under review, under the Air Task Force also conducted Operation RUWAN WUTA III from 12 – 17 December 2017 to consolidate on the counter insurgency gains earlier recorded in Operations RUWAN WUTA I and II.
The Operation was a 6-day Air Interdiction (AI) to further sustain the tempo of offensive air operations, thereby denying the insurgents the much-needed respite to recover and re-organize themselves to carry out any major offensive against own troops.
He said, during the air operations, key adversarial targets were identified and attacked in a series of air strikes by the Air Task Force. Aside the initially identified targets, intensive Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions were conducted to acquire other targets for interdiction as the operation commenced.
While the ATF provided close air support to land troops, as they conducted offensive and clearance operations against the insurgents in Arina-Chiki, Arina-Woje, Chukun-Gudu and Bukar-Meram.
“This obvious synergy with the land troops culminated in the decimation of the insurgents as well as destruction of several BHT technical (Armed vehicles) and other logistics, thereby significantly degrading their capabilities.”

71 missions
General Nicholas notes that in order to successfully execute these Operations, the Air Task Force conducted a total of 71 missions in 94 sorties, within a total of 152 hours 45 minutes and a total of 142,230 Litres of Jet A1 fuel was utilized by the various participating platforms.
The Air Task Force in conjunction with the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) has currently commenced the conduct of Operation RUWAN WUTA IV around the northern fringes of the Lake Chad Islands in support of ground operations against the insurgents,” he added.
The General also said that in the period under review, a number of BHT suspects were nabbed during surveillance operations by the troops and the arrested suspects were apprehended for indulging in subversive and other atrocious activities.

34 Boko Haram suspects
Nicholas maintained that a total of 34 Boko Haram suspects were arrested during the period of these operations where troops in conjunction with vigilantes arrested Isah Muhammadu – 32 years from Chirokusko and Adamu Isah – 25 years from Garga village both in Tarmuwa Local Government Area of Yobe state.
While they were in possession of one Ak 47 rifle, 2 Dane guns and 106 rounds of 7.62mm (special). Time will not permit me to mention all the other cases here. The suspects who are currently undergoing interrogations will be thoroughly investigated and will subsequently
be handed over for appropriate prosecution.

Wife of Abu Yarsir, Chibok girls
He also recalled that on 4 January 2018, Salomi Pogu, one of the Chibok girls abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok and held hostage by BHT since 2014 was rescued by troops as she escaped in the company of another young girl Jamila Adams and her child.
They were immediately given medical attention and later handed over to the Borno State Government for further processing and administering and during the second phase of Operation DEEP PUNCH II, another set of 84 abductees were rescued by troops from one of the BHT camps clamped down in Sambisa.
Among these rescued abductees, he said, is the wife of Abu Yarsir, the personal physician to Abubakar Shekau while in the northern fringes of Borno state alone, over 700 abductees comprising fishermen and farmers were rescued in the ongoing operations in the Lake Chad Region.
He also explained that several suicide bomb attacks were proactively averted by our troops before they reached their target destinations.
BHT IEDs planted along roads targeting innocent road users were also detected and safely detonated by our Explosive Ordnance Disposal Teams (EOD). A mention of a few of these incidents will suffice in this briefing.

Female suicide bombers
“On Tuesday 9 January 2018, troops deployed around Gamboru Ngala averted what would have been a very devastating suicide attack carried out by three female suicide bombers. Two of the suicide bombers strapped with suicide vests who attempted to infiltrate Gamboru town were taken out by troops.
“A third suicide bomber was also intercepted in the same general area and has been taken into custody with her suicide vest. In a similar situation, on 21 January 2018, two female suicide bombers hastily detonated their suicide vests near Dikwa Divisional Police station, when they were accosted by troops. Only the 2 suicide bombers died in the incident.
“On 31 January 2018, a twin suicide bomb attack was cold-heartedly carried out on Dalori IDP camp leading to the death of 4 persons and 20 others injured. Another suicide bomb attack carried out on Mandarari in Konduga town was successfully foiled by troops as the suicide bomber was demobilised before she could gain access into the IDP camp,” Theater Commander added.
He said given the recent operational successes recorded in the Operations DEEP PUNCH II and the need to sustain troops’ domination of the area, it has become expedient to construct access roads into the very heart of the Sambisa forest.
In view of the ongoing operations by troops of Operation Lafiya Dole, intensified by artillery and aerial bombardments of identified BHT enclaves through coordinated close support of the Air Task Force, the terrorists can be said to have been decimated.

 

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