About 850 soldiers shortlisted for a
counter-terrorism course at the Nigerian Army Training Centre in
Kontagora, Niger State narrowly
escaped death when they were ambushed by
suspected members of the outlawed Boko Haram islamist sect.
Four of them were however seriously
injured in the incident which took place at a location between Okene and
Lokoja, Kogi State on Sunday night.
A security source said on Monday that
the soldiers were men of the 322 Artillery Battalion, and the Fourth
Brigade Garrison, Ekeunwa, Benin in Edo State.
The PUNCH learnt that the 850
soldiers were expected to give fillip to the ongoing counter-terrorism
operation in Borno and Adamawa states on completion of the counter-
insurgency course.
Our source said there were suspicions
that the attackers were insurgents because of the intensity of the
gunfire directed at the vans conveying the soldiers from both sides of
the road.
He added that the soldiers, who shot their way through the ambush, passed the night at the Nigeria Army formation in Lokoja.
The four injured soldiers, according to
him, were taken to a military facility in Lokoja while the
commanders of the troops addressed the others on Monday morning.
The source said, “There was an attack
on soldiers along the Okene-Lokoja Road on Sunday night. Four of the
soldiers were seriously wounded in the attack though all of them are
still alive and are receiving treatment at Lokoja.
“The soldiers were on their way for a
course at Kontagora, where they are expected to be deployed in the
North-East for the war against the insurgents.
“The soldiers were pulled out from two
military formations in Benin–the 322 Artillery Battalion and the Fourth
Brigade Garrison in Ekeunwan, Benin.
“It was not long that the soldiers
returned from a peacekeeping operation in Sudan; they were members of
the NIBBATT 41 that returned to the country about two months ago.
“The soldiers were taken unawares as the
attackers operated from both sides of the road and got four of the
soldiers seriously wounded.
“However, they returned the fire and
passed through to Lokoja where they were addressed the following
morning. I believe as I talk to you that they must have left for
Kotangora to participate in the planned course.”
The source said that there were
feelings that somebody might have given out information on the movement
of the troops from Benin to Kontagora.
Efforts to get the comment of the
Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, on the
latest ambush were futile as the calls to his mobile telephone indicated
that it was switched off.
It will be recalled that about 190 Nigerian troops were ambushed by militants a few kilometres from Okene on January 19, 2013.
The militants were said to have cut
through the convoy of Mali-bound Nigerian Army peacekeepers travelling
in three luxury buses via Kaduna to Bamako, Mali.
They first hit the convoy with
Improvised Explosive Devices planted on the highway before firing on the
troops afterwards. Two soldiers were killed and several others injured
during the attack.
A few days after the incident, a group,
Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis-Sudan, claimed that it carried out
the attack. The group is a break-away faction of Boko Haram.
Source:Punch Newspaper
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