Fresh 1,000 soldiers sent to Borno to fight B'Haram

As part of the ongoing reorganisation of the Special Forces in the North-East, the authorities of the Nigerian military have ordered the deployment of more troops in Maiduguri, Borno State.

A military source said that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah, had approved the deployment of over a battalion of soldiers to intensify the ongoing battle against insurgents in the North-East.

Usually, a battalion of the Nigerian Army is made up of between 850 and 1,000 soldiers.

It was gathered that the deployment was a routine military exercise which must take place for as long as the military operation to  flush out the insurgents and stabilise the security of the zone continued.

It was learnt that most of the soldiers who were driven into the Borno State capital by 2pm on Monday were taken to the headquarters of the 7th Infantry Division of the Nigerian Army at Maimalari, Maiduguri.

Investigations revealed that the soldiers were deployed from the Nigerian Army formations in Kotangora, Niger State and the Nigerian Army School of Artillery, and Corps Headquarters, Bauchi.

It was however not clear whether similar troop deployment had taken place in Adamawa and Yobe states which are also under emergency rule.

Repeated calls to the mobile telephone of the Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, did not connect.

A military source, however, said that the deployment was part of the ongoing reorganisation by the COAS to reposition the Special Forces to make them more responsive to the escalating insurgency in the North-East.

The deployment occurred shortly after the temporary relocation of the Chief of Army Staff to the North-East to personally oversee the military operation in compliance with the resolution of the Senate Committee on Defence.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Defence and the Army, Senator George Sekibo, had told the PUNCH exclusively that the Army chief had moved to the North-East in compliance with the Senate’s resolution.

Since his relocation to the North-East, the Army chief has also effected major changes in the military leadership in the North-East, especially in Borno State.

Two weeks ago, Minimah had replaced the General Officer Commanding the 7th Division, Maj.-Gen. Junaid Bindawa, with an officer with a reputation for operational efficiency nicknamed ‘bandit’ in military circles, Maj.-Gen. A. Mohammed.

Minimah also replaced the Commander of the 21 Brigade, Maiduguri, Brig.-Gen. Yusuf with Brig.-Gen. Ogundele.

The reorganisation also affected other senior military officers who occupied the position of Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff to the former Brigade Commander.

Meanwhile, soldiers from the One-Mechanised Division, Kaduna have demolished a building suspected to be a hideout of the insurgents.

The building  located at Tashar Kanawa in the Kwaru,  Badarawa area of Kaduna North Local Government Area of the state, our correspondents gathered, came under heavy attack on Sunday night.

It was learnt that the house had been an abode for the insurgents for some time now  and they had all the while terrorised Kwaru and Badarawa communities.

It was learnt that the hideout was uncovered when gunshots were  reportedly  fired from it on Sunday, a development that attracted the attention of neighbours who alerted security operatives.

Confirming the incident, the Public Relations Officer of the division, Col. Abdul Sani, said, “Yes, we demolished the building as a standard procedure for any building housing armed men.”

Source: Punch