70 Dead, Including15 Soldiers In Bama Attack, Defence Headquarters Confirms

At least 55 civilians and 15 soldiers died in the military operations to track down the insurgents who carried out the last Friday’s pre-dawn attacks on Mohammed Kur Barracks in Bama, Borno State.

The remaining 55 comprised of 50 insurgents and five villagers.

The Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, who made this known in a statement on Monday, added that 20 vehicles belonging to the insurgents were also destroyed during the attack.

Olukolade said the vehicles were sighted during an air connoisseur exercise while they were about to escape to Cameroun.

He said that some of the insurgents were arrested while several others escaped with gunshot wounds.

Olukolade’s statement reads in part, “The military operations to track insurgents who carried out the last Friday pre-dawn attacks on Mohammed Kur Barracks, Bama, has led to the destruction of over 20 vehicles conveying escaping terrorists.

“The vehicles were the ones used during the attack on the barracks and were sighted through air surveillance as the terrorists were making efforts to cross the borders back to their haven in Cameroun.

“Although a good number of the insurgents escaped with bullet wounds while some were arrested, over 50 of them died in the course of exchange of fire with ground troops in the ongoing operations to apprehend fleeing terrorists.

“The military has lost 15 soldiers mostly from the attack while some died during the pursuit. Five civilians also died during the attack. Intensive cordon and search operations is still ongoing to fish out the insurgents who might be lurking around communities in the area.

“Families affected by the attacks have been relocated to other military locations.”

Meanwhile, a former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Jubrila Ayinla (retd.), has cautioned Nigerian leaders not to be deceptive while solving the country’s problems.

The ex-naval chief said this during the 90th anniversary of Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria in Lagos.

He said that one of the conditions for Nigeria to survive beyond 2015 was for its leaders to find the right solutions to the nation’s challenges.

Ayinla said, “Nigeria will survive beyond 2015 as long as we tackle our problems. We know our problems but it is left for us to acknowledge the problems and to face them squarely. One of our problem is the preponderance of our population. Our population is weighed down by poverty.

“Our leaders are not speaking out. As leaders, when things are going bad, we should not keep quiet. We should come out and say the truth no matter who is going to be affected. One of those things that are affecting us is that we don’t always want to come out and say the truth. Truth is bitter but we don’t like hearing or saying it.”