By Kingsley Omonobi
The defence headquarters, DHQ, has disclosed that 18 persons—four soldiers, 10 policemen and four civilians— died during the Boko Haram terrorists’ ambush on the convoy of Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum on Friday, when their vehicles ran over several IEDS while in pursuit of the extremists.
Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major-General John Enenche, in a statement, noted that the Nigerian Army has consequently deployed more IED and bomb disposal teams and equipment to the North-East to prevent future incidents of such nature.
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The statement was entitled “Attack on Convoy of Borno State Civilian Relocation Committee By Boko HaramI/ISWAP Elements.”
It read: “The convoy of the Borno State Civilians Relocation Committee comprising Armed Forces of Nigeria, Nigeria Police Force and Civilian Joint Task Force was ambushed by members of the BHT/ISWAP at Barwati village on 25 of September 2020.
“The attack/ambush was however successfully repelled by the gallant troops. Sadly, a total of 18 lives including four soldiers, 10 Policemen and four civilians were lost during the sad incident.
“Troops in hot pursuit of the insurgents successfully recovered three vehicles; two belonging to the Nigeria Police and one BHT gun truck.
“The casualties recorded were as a result of the explosion from the multiple Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, planted on the road by the terrorists.
“The Nigerian Army has since deployed bomb and IED disposal teams to ensure effective route scanning and clearance to forestall future occurrence.”
