members were killed in an offensive by
the military, which raided its identified
cells using air strikes and ground
troops from the 7 Division, Nigerian
Army, in Bita village, Damboa-Gwoza
road in Borno State. Two weeks ago, no
fewer than 20 suspected terrorists
were reportedly killed by troops from
the same Division in the area, while
several others escaped during a similar
raid in one of the Boko Haram hideouts
as confirmed to journalists by the
Division's spokesman, Colonel
Mohammed Dole. Bita, which is 32
kilometres west of Gwoza town is about
135 kilometres away from Maiduguri,
the state capital and it is alleged to be
one of the strongholds of the Boko
Haram insurgents. The area has
witnessed series of attacks and killings,
with the bombing of public schools, a
new generation bank and road attacks
in recent times by the insurgents.
Reliable security sources revealed that
the military raid of Boko Haram
hideouts in Bita took place on Sunday
and Monday, adding that it was aimed
at flushing out the insurgents who
were suspected to have fled the recent
attacks by the troops, and taken refuge
in bushes on the Sambisa Game
Forests. During a routine visit last week
by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen.
Azubuike Ihe-rijika to Maiduguri, he
challenged military officers to be
steadfast, as there would be what he
described "as total war and destruction
of Boko Haram camps in the state this
week." The source, however, said: "The
recent attacks launched by the troops
from the Division beginning from this
week was a huge success, as one of the
strongholds of the terrorists were
destroyed with the killing of
unspecified number of suspected Boko
Haram insurgents." The military
authorities in Maiduguri could not be
reached on telephone from Maiduguri
as there were no communication
networks in Borno State due to the
state of emergency declared in some
northern states.
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