About Eighty-three Nigerian soldiers, which include a commanding officer, have been reported missing 4 days after the Nigerian army came under heavy attack from Boko Haram insurgents, According to reports by Premium Times, details of the attack are still cloudy, hundreds of insurgents attacked the base of the Nigerian army on the border with Niger on Monday, October 17. According to top level military sources monitoring the development, the soldiers were still missing in action as of Friday morning, four days after the attack.
the Nigerian Army, on Tuesday, October 18, confirmed the attack in a statement, but they were unable to give further updates. They refuse to confirm the 83 soldiers that were missing. It was reported earlier how the Nigerian troops drowned in a river as they scampered for safety in the face of a superior firepower from the terrorists.
22 of the fleeing soldiers were later rescued by their Nigerien counterparts and taken to a hospital in Diffa, southern Niger, several others were fatally wounded after Boko Haram opened fire on them when they jumped into the River Yobe. The missing Commanding Officer of 223 Tank Battalion in Gashigar, was identified as K. Yusuf, a lieutenant colonel.
Nigerian army sources revealed that the troops could not withstand the superior firepower of Boko Haram because they had only two light armour tanks to work with.
the renewed show of strength by Boko Haram, apart from the poor equipment, has frightened and puzzled many experts, coming after months of relative success by the soldiers.
In related development, the chief of army staff Tukur Buratai on Tuesday, October 18, said all Boko Haram terrorists have been eliminated from Nigerian territory. The army chief speaking in Lagos at the Albati Barracks while commissioning some structures said most of the terrorists’ attacks are carried out by insurgents from the Lake Chad Basin. He noted that the recent attacks are mostly carried out outside the borders of Nigeria.
