Three soldiers k1lled as Boko Haram seizes control of Nigerian Army base in Borno

Not less than three soldiers were reportedly killed by Boko Haram insurgents who overran and took control of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) in the Wajiroko area, one of the largest military bases in Borno State.

Peoples Gazette reported, quoting sources  familiar with the development, that the incident occurred around 10:00 p.m. on Monday when the terrorists launched a coordinated attack on the base housing troops of Operation Hadin Kai and Desert Sanity IV.

It was gathered that the troops could not repel the insurgents’ attack and fled the area. Several reinforcement teams and air support immediately deployed to the area by the military command chain on Monday and Tuesday failed to regain control of the base.

Sources told the medium that three soldiers were killed during attempts to regain control of the base from Boko Haram, with three others also injured, including a brigade commander, Brigadier General U.F Abubakar, who was leading one of the reinforcement teams, Lance Corporal Ibrahim Musa and Private Mohammed Hashim.

Although details of the attack were said to be still sketchy, the sources confirmed that terrorists successfully took over the base, as drone footage showed dozens of soldiers running towards Sabon Gari for safety.

Army spokesperson Onyema Nwachukwu did not respond to The Gazette’s request for comment on Boko Haram’s latest attack on a military base.