The Nigerian
army on Wednesday confirmed that a “sizeable number” of the 39 soldiers
declared missing after last week suspected Boko Haram attack in the border
town
of Gashigar in Borno state, had returned.
This
disclosure was made by the Theater Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole,
Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, while briefing newsmen in Maiduguri, the state capital.
“It is true
that about 39 soldiers were declared missing,” he said.
“I want to
inform you that a sizeable number of our soldiers had returned to base.”
The commander,
according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), however, admitted that a few
soldiers were yet to be found.
“I think it is
only a handful that have not been found,” he said, declining to state their
exact number.
He said the
military was engaged in an ongoing operation to uproot insurgents from the
area.
“Operations
are ongoing in the area,” he said.
“I think that
we will give you the details in due course.”
He added that
the military was focused on rescuing the remaining Chibok girls and all those
in captivity.
“We have a
task before us that anyone held by the Boko Haram terrorists must be rescued,”
he said.
” We will do
everything possible to rescue them.”
He said the
military had recorded progress in its quest to apprehend collaborators of the
Boko Haram terrorists in the North-east.
“So far, we
have arrested 30 suspects in connection with the crime of collaborating with
the terrorists. We have four soldiers, two policemen, vigilantes and other
civilians,” Irabor said.
He said the
suspects were undergoing interrogation to determine their level of involvement
in the crime.
Irabor,
however, declined to give their identifies.
“For some
reasons we cannot give out their names for now. But we will do that at the end
of the investigation,” he concluded.
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