The spokesperson said the lieutenant died in the ambush while four other personnel, who sustained injuries in action, were receiving treatment.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, in a statement on Sunday, said the ambush happened along the Buratai-Buni Gari road in Borno.
Mr Buba’s statement confirms a PREMIUM TIMES report of the incident which sources said led to the death of the officer, a lieutenant.

The spokesperson said the lieutenant died in the ambush while four other personnel, who sustained injuries in action, were receiving treatment.

He, however, said the troops’ reinforcement pursued the terrorist to their hideout within the Timbuktu Triangle and killed six of them.

According to him, troops recovered five AK 47 rifles and 103 rounds of the 7.62mm special ammunition.

“The remaining terrorist ran in disarray and the troops are in hunt of the remnant terrorist that fled the firefight,” the major general said.

How it happened

The ambushed soldiers were attached to the forward operational base in Buratai, under the Nigerian Army 27 Task Force Brigade in Buni Gari, Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State, military sources briefed about the incident told PREMIUM TIMES.

The 27 Task Force is one of the units fighting Boko Haram terrorists in Northeast Nigeria.

Mr Maidawa was leading troops to Damaturu, Yobe State capital, on Friday, to buy fuel when their convoy was ambushed around Kamuya and Azare villages in Biu LGA, our source said, asking not to be named for fear of victimisation by the army.

The terrorists exploited the forest area and the bad road network to launch the ambush.

The ambush by terrorists in Borno came less than a month after some suspected residents of the Okuama in Delta State, on 14 March, ambushed and murdered the Commanding Officer of 181 Army Amphibious Battalion, two majors, one captain and 13 soldiers.

The troops were responding to a distress call arising from a clash between Okuama and Okoloba communities in the South-southern state.