Nigerian Army
The Nigerian Army has denied media reports that at least 30 soldiers were killed during a battle with suspected Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State.
The report had claimed that troops deployed in Zari town, Guzamali Local Government Area of the state, came under attack on Thursday, leading to the ugly development.
Reacting to the report, spokesman for Theatre Command of Operation Lafiya Dole, Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, denied that the Army suffered casualties.
According Colonel Nwachukwu, contrary to the report, several of the terrorists were killed by the military troops just as he said the terrorists’ equipment were captured.
He said: “That information is not correct. It’s true that we had an encounter with Boko Haram at a location called Zari. The Boko Haram came to attack that community, and our troops deployed few kilometres away from the location, countered the attack.
“The ground troops were supported by the Air Task Force, and several Boko Haram Terrorists were killed, and we also destroyed many of their equipment, weapons.
“On our side, I’m yet to receive casualty figure on my desk, if there was any. So, I cannot confirm that we had (any) and I think it’s very untrue for anyone to (say we had that casualty figure).”
Colonel Nwachukwu said a statement was earlier issued by the command to the allged attack.
It was gathered that the same location had come under attack just recently on Thursday, at Zari in Damasak.