On Tuesday, some suspected
Boko Haram insurgents ambushed the convoy of the oil workers around Jilli and
Borno yesu villages at Magumeri local government area of Borno state.
The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
had told our source that 10 members of the contingent were kidnapped. Though it
said they were not its regular staff, but a team of geologists from the
University of Maiduguri who were commissioned to explore oil in Lake Chad.
President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the NNPC to
begin the search for oil in the region, which is believed to have huge deposits
of the resource. The NNPC engaed some indigenous hands for the task.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Sani Usman,
army spokesman, said troops rescued all the “NNPC staff” and recovered the
bodies of slain soldiers.
He also said some of the vehicles taken from the
contingent were recovered.
”So
far, they have rescued all the NNPC staff and recovered the corpses of the
officer, eight soldiers and a civilian have who have been evacuated to 7
division medical services and hospital,” he said.
“The team recovered four vehicles one of which
includes a gun truck mounted with an anti-aircraft gun, two white Hilux taken
away from NNPC staff and one blue Hilux belonging to CJTF. The team also
recovered large quantities of arms and ammunition, several spare tyres, many
jerry cans of containing petroleum, oil and lubricant, assorted drugs,
improvised explosive device (IED) making materials, reflective jackets and a
Motorola handheld radio, among others. The team also neutralised many of the
terrorists. The troops are not relenting in the pursuit, search and rescue
effort.”
Source: - Fredrick Nwabufo | The Cable
| July 27, 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment