15-year-old girl escapes from Boko Haram

Troops of the Nigerian Army attached to Operation Lafiya Dole have intercepted a 15-year-old girl, Zainab Mohammed, who escaped from the Boko Haram terrorists’ den in the Gubla area of Borno State.


It was learnt that the teenager, who was found by troops of the 28 Task Force Brigade on Sunday, was thereafter handed over to the “appropriate authorities” for profiling and further investigations.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Texas Chukwu, who confirmed Mohammed’s rescue, said the troops recovered one AK-47 rifle and a magazine containing four rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition.

This is just as the Air Task Force of the Operation Lafiya Dole conducted air strikes on Tongule village in the Dikwa area of the state – a village which was said to have been overrun and controlled by the Boko Haram terrorists.

It was gathered that the air strikes were conducted on Sunday by the Nigerian Air Force Alpha Jet aircraft and the Mi-35M helicopter gunship, during which scores of the terrorists were reportedly killed.

The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, who confirmed the air strikes in a release on Monday, said “intensive damage was done to the terrorists’ settlement” as captured by the NAF Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platform.

He said, “The Air Task Force conducted a massive attack on Tongule village which is nine Kilometre South-West of the Dikwa area in Borno. The air strikes were a sequel to credible intelligence that several Boko Haram terrorists were converging on the location, having occupied the entire village.

“Consequently, the mission was planned and executed to prevent the terrorists from carrying out attacks against troops’ locations in the general area.

“The ATF scrambled the NAF Alpha Jet aircraft and Mi-35M helicopter gunships, which subsequently attacked structures occupied by the terrorists with bombs, rockets and canons, in quick succession. As a result of the air strikes, several terrorists were neutralised in the village while a few survivors were seen fleeing the location and taken out in follow-up attacks.”