18 killed as JTF, Boko Haram members clash

Seventeen members of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, and one Joint military Task Force (JTF) personnel were said to have been killed in two operations conducted by the JTF, supported by Nigerian Airforce gunship, to dislodge terrorists’ camps located in Sambisa Games Reserve in Bama Local Government and Farin-Ruwa Forest, South West/East of Demboa Local Government Areas of Borno State.
The raids were conducted on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of the visit of Vice-President Namadi Sambo to the crisis-ridden state.
A statement from the JTF, which was made available to Saturday Tribune on Friday, revealed that the camps were fortified with training facilities.
The statement also said that the camps were used to conduct training and launch recent attacks and bombings in Maiduguri, Musari, Konduga, Biu, Bama, and Demboa communities.
According to JTF, efforts by JTF troops to destroy the camps led to a fierce gun battle that resulted in the death of 17 members of the sect and one JTF personnel.
According to the JTF, the camps were destroyed and are currently being monitored by troops, while items recovered include six AK-47 rifles, two G3 rifles, pistols, one Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG), one RPG tube, 20 RPG chargers, two double-barrel rifles, 2543 ammunition, 33 empty magazines, three laptop computers, 10 Motorola walkie talkies, 20 telephone handsets, 40 primed IED canisters, three bags of rice and two bags of beans, two jerry cans of palm oil, one bag of salt, one generator and light green uniforms.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in the security has been beefed up in the capital, Maiduguri, as Vice-President Namadi Sambo is expected in the state to inaugurate some projects by the state government.
Saturday Tribune gathered that the projects include the 144 trucks/drilling rigs at Trailer Park along Pompomari bypass; the inauguration of Maduganari bypass road as well as the Muhammed Shuwa Memorial Hospital and the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Ruwan Zafi.