The Nigerian Army has suffered a fresh tragedy as Boko Haram terrorists killed a Lieutenant Colonel and six soldiers in an ambush along Biu-Buni Yadi road, Borno State.
Multiple sources said the incident occurred on the evening of Thursday, April 4, 2024, leading to the killing of the senior officer, a driver, a gunner, and four other soldiers.
The development comes a week after the Nigerian Army buried 17 personnel who were gruesomely murdered while on a peace mission in the Okuama community in Delta State on March 14, 2024.
It was gathered that the Boko Haram insurgents ambushed the soldiers at Kamuya, a village just a few kilometres drive from Buratai, the home town of a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai (rtd).
According to a security source, the soldiers paid the supreme price while on their way to get fuel in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital.
“It’s very sad; they were soldiers of 135 Special Force BN FOB in Buratai. They were ambushed on their way to Damaturu, Yobe state, to buy fuel.”
“Unfortunately, we lost an officer, a driver, a gunner and four other escorts, while the wounded are in the hospital responding to treatment,” the source said.
Per Daily Trust, a local source who narrowly escaped the incident said he ran into the scene while on his way to the neighbouring Yadi town, the hometown of Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State.
“I can’t describe the kind of gun battle that ensued, the insurgents who were in large numbers overwhelmed the soldiers. It’s by God's grace that I survived,” the witness narrated.