Boko Haram militants have ambushed the convoy of the Nigeria chief of army staff Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai but were fought off by soldiers under his commmand.
Major General Tukur Buratai, Nigeria’s chief of army staff
The convoy was ambushed while travelling the unsafe Maiduguri-Gamboru-Ngala highway controlled until recently by Boko Haram militants.
One soldier was killed and another two wounded when the Boko Haram militants ambushed an advance team of troops moving ahead of the chief of army staff’s vehicle. However, soldiers led personally by Buratai returned fire, killing five Boko Haram members at the spot. Five terrorists have been detained by Nigerian troops but four more managed to escape.
Buratai arrived in Maiduguri on Friday with the purpose of inspecting troops fighting Boko Haram terrorists in the most dangerous areas of north-eastern Nigeria.
The chief of army staff made a brief stop at Mafa, addressing the troops of the 112 battalion. Buratai told soldiers that “we all know we have a task to clear this general area of these criminal elements once and for all so that we all can go back to our normal soldiering business”. He also assured troops that Muhammadu Buhari promised him to provide troops with everything needed to crush the Boko Haram insurgency.
Shortly after leaving Mafa soldiers in the convoy spotted suspicious men accompanying some herdsmen in the bush.
The chief of army staff ordered his subordinates to round up those men who turned out to be four escaped Boko Haram militants who had taken part in the ambush on the convoy. The herdsmen said that they had been forced by terrorists to move with their cattle to give militants some kind of disguise in hope to escape in the bush.
The Boko Haram members were immediately handcuffed. The convoy moved on to Dikwa, 85km away from Maiduguri, where Buratai addressed some 4000 refugees protected by troops, assuring them that their plight would soon come to an end due to the tireless efforts of the Nigerian military.
Buratai’s final destination was the front-line in the border town of Ngala where he visited soldiers to boost their morale.
After that the chief of army staff returned to Maiduguri at about 4pm and then departed for Abuja.
President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Buratai the new chief of army staff on July 13.
Four weeks ago Boko Haram terrorists in an attempt to showcase their audacity attacked the village of the new chief of army staff.
