The House of Representatives in Nigeria has commended the military on its recent victories that have led to reclaiming of some communities in the north-east region previously under the control of the Boko Haram terrorist group.
A member of the House, Honourable Muhammad Monguno, of the All Progressive Congress, in a motion of urgent national importance on Tuesday, praised the military for its bravery and steadfastness in what he described as “the gallant performance of the Nigerian Armed Forces”.
Lawmakers, who spoke on the matter, encouraged the troops to sustain the offensive and help ensure that other areas under the control of the insurgents would also be reclaimed.
Nigerian Army Reclaim Baga
One of the major recent victories recorded by the Nigerian Armed Forces was the reclaiming of Baga town in Borno State in Nigeria’s north-east from the Boko Haram.
The reclaiming of the town was a fallout of the the Nigerian military counter-terrorism operation, backed by air strikes.
According to the spokesman for the military, Major General Chris Olukolade, the town was reclaimed on Saturday.
He also noted that Apart from the five anti aircraft guns and the rifles captured from the terrorists, over 34 motorcycles and five vehicles including trucks being used for operations by the terrorists were destroyed in the course of the fighting as troops headed for Baga.
“A large number of terrorists have drowned in the Lake Chad as they fled the heavy bombardment by Nigerian Air force heralding the advance of Nigerian troops on mission to flush them out of Baga.
“All the landmines were skillfully cleared one after the other. Eventually, the resistance of the terrorists collapsed and the land forces finally stormed the town in the early hours of Friday.
“Many of the terrorists died while an unknown but substantial number of them fled with various degrees of injury, in the series of encounter along the routes of advance, as troops headed for Baga”, he maintained.
The Defence Spokesperson further noted that “similar exercise is being carried out in over 15 locations namely Gajigana, Ngaze, Ngenzai, Marte Junction, Mile 90, Yoyo, Kekeno, Kukawa, Cross Kauwa, Kangarwa, Amirari, Kichimatari, Borokari Barati, Kauwa and other localities where troops have flushed out the terrorists in the operations preceding the entry to Baga.
“The troops are now dominating and conducting aggressive patrols in the locations”, he added, insisting that the “morale of troops remain high”.
The Nigerian Military also said it was updating tactics against the Boko Haram Sect, with the addition of 260 Aerospace Engineers that graduated from the Nigerian Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in Kaduna State to the Air Force.
