Not less than 38 soldiers were killed in Nigeria last week in violent attacks.
Besides, six civilians and 10 suspected bandits were also killed in other attacks while no fewer than 16 others were kidnapped across Nigeria, as insecurity in the land continues with little signs of abating.
A reputable online portal, Premium Times, reports that the major attacks last week occurred on Thursday when nine soldiers were killed in Zamfara and 11 others killed in Borno. On the same day, six students and two teachers were abducted in a Kaduna school.
The Boko Haram insurgency has claimed over 30,000 lives and caused the displacement of millions of others in recent years, mostly in North-eastern Nigeria. Also, kidnapping for ransom has been identified as one of the ways the Boko Haram raises funds for its activities.
On Monday, the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, said spiritual efforts were needed to combat terrorists. He said terrorist groups could not be eliminated alone by the military and urged religious bodies and organisations in the country to join the “forefront of this spiritual battle.
The news medium outline some of the killings in the report:
Sunday
– The Nigerian Army accused one major and 21 soldiers of fleeingthe scene of a Boko Haram attack and subsequently declared them wanted.
The soldiers were said to have fled Gubio, a community in Borno State now partly controlled by insurgents, on September 29. About 18 soldiers were killed during the attack on a military outpost in the community.
The Nigerian Army did not confirm the attack or acknowledge own casualties, but senior officers began immediately working to establish the level of resistance or damage from troops during the attack. In the aftermath, 22 soldiers were unavailable without immediate indication that they were missing in action or seized by Boko Haram.
– The police in Taraba State said five persons were killed in an ethnic clash between the Tiv and Jukun in Donga Local Government Area of the state.
The spokesperson of the police in the state, David Misal, told Daily Trust that a Deputy Police Commissioner was deployed to the affected area to restore peace and order.
Monday
– Adamu Zata, a professor of soil science in Modibbo Adamawa University of Technology (MOUTECH), Yola, was kidnappedand his younger brother, Sheda Zata, a veterinary doctor, killed.
A family member told SaharaReporters that armed kidnappers numbering more than 10, broke into the house of the professor in Girei, around 2 a.m, on Monday.
Suleiman Nguroje of the Adamawa police command confirmed the incident.
Thursday
– Gunmen abducted the father of the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Agriculture, Doodei Week.
According to Punch newspaper, George Week was kidnapped in the early hours of Thursday from his home at Ayama-Ijaw in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state
– Armed men also kidnapped six schoolgirls and two teachers after raiding a private secondary school in Kaduna State.
The attackers stormed Engravers College, a mixed-gender school in Sabo, Chikun Local Government Area, at about 12:10 a.m., the school’s bursar, Elvis Allah-Yaro, told PREMIUM TIMES
The state government said it was making efforts to rescue the victims.
– The Punch Newspaper reported that gunmen arrived on motorcycles and opened fire on soldiers at Sunke village on a peacekeeping mission in Zamfara, killing nine of the soldiers and injuring another.
While the spokesperson for Operation Hadarin Daji in the state, Oni Orisan, requested more time to speak on the issue, an official of the Federal Medical Centre said the bodies were brought to the hospital’s mortuary on Thursday.
– Boko Haram terrorists killed 11 soldiers and wounded 14 in an ambush on a military convoy in Borno State.
Thirty-four brave troops of 154 Task Force Battalion, including two officers, were on a patrol of Mauli-Borgozo area of battle when Boko Haram fighters unleashed terror on their convoy, killing 11 and wounding 14.
The battle began at about 11:25 a.m., but it was unclear how long it lasted before the terrorists disappeared. Two soldiers were declared missing in action as part of the attack, military sources said under anonymity
Friday
Boko Haram insurgents burnt houses in Mifa, a village in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State.
A resident told TheCable that the insurgents arrived at the village in large numbers around 8 p.m, and immediately began to set houses ablaze.
He said many of the villagers escaped while the attack caused panic in the whole of Chibok and neighbouring LGAs.
“They have burnt so many houses especially because it is night and the terrain of the place,” he added.
Saturday
– Gunmen on Saturday kidnapped six people at Gurin village in the Fufore/Gurin Local Government Area of Adamawa in Nigeria’s insurgency-ravaged North-East.
Shuaibu Babas, the member representing Fufore/Gurin Constituency in the Adamawa Stater House of Assembly, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the incident occurred in the early hours of the day.
“I was out of town and was just briefed about the incident. I want to call for calm from my people.This is a shocking development and I urge the government to do something about the growing trend.”
“Security needs to be enhanced alongside intelligence gathering to check this ugly development,” Mr Babas said.
– In retaliation of the killing of nine soldiers by armed bandits in Zamfara on Thursday, the Nigerian Air Force said it killed at least 10 armed bandits in air raids.
The air force said some of the bandits returned from the attack in Zamfara to hide in a forest in Kaduna.
“The decision was taken in the wake of the attack on troops’ location at Sunke in Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara State as well as the increased migration of bandits towards the Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna State,” air force spokesperson, Ibikunle Daramola, said
