#BokoHaram Ambushes Oil Workers In Nigeria, Kills 9 Soldiers, Including Top Officer

Red Cross and Emergency officials collect corpses in Waza after a Boko Haram suicide bombing on Wednesday June 12 2017. Photos- L’Oeil du Sahel

Boko Haram terrorists on Tuesday ambushed Nigerian oil workers and killed nine soldiers, including an officer, the army said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that a civilian was also among the dead.

The deadly ambush took place at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon at Barno Yasu, Magumeri Local Government Area of Borno State, northeastern Nigeria, said Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman, the Director of the Nigerian Army Public Relations.

“Yesterday Tuesday 25th July 2017, at about 3.00pm, suspected Boko Haram terrorists ambushed the escort and team of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) staff returning from oil exploration at Barno Yasu, Magumeri Local Government Area of Borno State,” he said.

The Brigade mobilized and sent reinforcement, he said.

“So far, they have rescued all the NNPC staff and recovered the corpses of the Officer, 8 soldiers and a civilian have who have been evacuated to 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital.

“The team recovered 4 vehicles one of which include a gun truck mounted with an Anti-Aircraft Gun, 2 white Hilux taken away from NNPC staff and 1 blue Hilux belonging to CJTF.

“The team also recovered large quantities of arms and ammunition, several spare tyres, many jerry cans of containing Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant, assorted drugs, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) making materials, reflective jackets and a Motorola handheld radio, among others. The team also neutralized many of the terrorists,” he added.

Boko Haram has wreaked havoc in Nigeria and Cameroon in recent months, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing millions.

In cameroon, the terrorists killed two gendarmes in the country’s far north following a gun battle.

In Washington D.C., during a press briefing the Pentagon said Boko Haram remains a concern.

Captain Jeff Davis, spokesman of the Department of Defence, said about three hundred American troops deployed to Cameroon remain there in an effort to defeat the terrorists who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in March 2015.