Kano: How we subdued Boko Haram – Army

Battle ready soldiers

The military high command yesterday, gave graphic details of how it overcame a 10-hour fire fight with Boko Haram insurgents to capture what it described as one of the largest cache of weaponry belonging to the group.
The revelation came as the Federal Government warned yesterday that the Boko Haram scourge was capable of crippling the economy of Northern Nigeria. At the end of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting yesterday the government urged prominent northern leaders to rise up in solidarity with the government in the battle, saying that the conflict was already casting negative indices on the regional economy.

Speaking after conducting reporters round what the military described as the destroyed weaponry of the Boko Haram group after yesterday’s gun duel, Army spokesman, Lt Ikediche Onyenonachi Iweha said:  “A search on the premises revealed that the facility which was attacked is a bomb manufacturing factory as well as an operational warehouse with several unexploded IEDS.”
Lt.  Iweha stated that the military on arrival at the suspected bomb factory came under fire from the Boko Haram fighters who also threw several Improvised Explosive Devises (IEDs) at them but were compelled by the exigencies of the operation to handle the situation with caution.
The three bedroom flat used as the base of the insurgents located on the outskirts of the Mariri neighbourhood of Kano was yesterday strewn with bullet holes. The flat was dilapidated.
The Army spokesman explained the insurgents had substantial fire power as they engaged security agents in sustained gunfire that lasted between 1700hours to 0340hours before they were subdued.
He revealed that four casualties were recorded on the side of the armed group during the combat operation, adding that a large cache of arms and ammunition including locally made bombs were recovered.
Items recovered included 10 AK 47 riffles with 27 loaded magazines; one pump action gun, 223 packets of live ammunition and several mobile police uniforms.
Also recovered from the flat were identity cards and several bags of urea fertilizer and assorted cables for detonating IEDs.
The Army spokesman  appreciated what he described as the overwhelming support the military has received so far from the general public, and urged them to continue to support the operation for the good of the state.
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