Fidelis Soriwei and Adelani Adepegba
The troops of the Nigerian Army have killed 16 Boko Haram insurgents at Kangarwa, Borno State.
The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in a statement on Monday that the 16 insurgents were killed by the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole while repelling an attack by the insurgents at Kangarwa on Sunday.
Usman added that an officer and 11 soldiers were injured during the gun battle with the insurgents.
He said the injured military personnel had all been treated at the unit’s medical facility and were in stable condition.
According to him, the troops recovered ‘one Rocket Propelled Grenade, seven tubes, a Rocket-Propelled Grenade bomb, 11 AK-47 rifle, a 60mm mortar tube, a dozen of 60mm mortar bombs, a 36 hand grenade, five AK-47 rifle magazine, a Gionee handset and a bandolier’ from the insurgents.
Usman added that some troops on fighting patrol to Dogon Chikun rescued five persons and recovered a vehicle from the insurgents.
He said, “Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole at harbour in Kangarwa yesterday (Sunday) successfully repelled suspected remnants of Boko Haram terrorists attack. The attack was launched by the suspected terrorists at about 5:30pm on Sunday, August 14, 2016.
“The alert troops rose to the occasion and dealt a decisive blow on the insurgents, by killing 16 of them and recovering arms and ammunition from them.
“Unfortunately, an officer and 11 soldiers were wounded in action during the encounter. We are glad to state they have all been treated at the unit’s medical facility and are all in stable condition.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has entered into a partnership with the United States under the White House Security Governance Initiative on military weapon and hardware acquisitions, nationwide emergency response planning, and civilian security planning for the North-East.
A draft agreement that would herald the commencement of the initiative is expected to be signed at the end of a five-day meeting which commenced on Monday in Abuja between senior Nigerian security officers and their US counterparts.
Speaking at a pre-meeting briefing with the Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.), and other senior security officers, the acting Deputy Chief of Mission, US embassy, Alan Tousignant, explained that the SGI was launched during the Africa Summit hosted by President Barrack Obama in 2014.
He stated that the initiative was meant to assist African countries to manage security governance and institutions that could effectively and efficiently deliver services and justice to the citizenry, adding that the US team had visited Abuja in February to brief the Federal Government.
Tousignant said during the visit, the team met with Dambazau, the police, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence and the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
The mission leader, Ambassador Nolan Steven, noted that the objective of the partnership was not to get for the Federal Government what it wanted, but for the government to work with the US transparently to enhance accountability to Nigerians.
The Interior minister, in his remarks, emphasised that the initiative would impact all security agencies in the country, stressing that it intertwined with the anti-corruption drive of the government.
“The idea is not to get equipment, but to do things right; at the end of the meeting, we would have a steering committee to oversee the action plan,” Dambazau said.
