Nigerian Soldiers Repatriated

Forum 9 years ago

Nigerian Soldiers Repatriated

Latest reports suggest that about 480 Nigerian soldiers, who had allegedly fled into Cameroon after heavy fighting with Boko Haram insurgents, are right now being sent back to Nigeria by Cameroonian authorities.
It was reported few days ago how civilians fleeing into Cameroon gave accounts of being joined by Nigerian soldiers who were retreating from heavy fighting with insurgents in the border town of Gamboru.
File photo of Nigerian soldiers
The Nigerian army had previously referred to the unscheduled arrival of 480 Nigerian troops into Cameroonian soil as a “tactical maneuver”.
According to Sahara Reporters report, the Nigerian troops came back into Nigeria through Adamawa state after being transported in a long convoy under tight security.
Residents of Mubi town in Adamawa State reported seeing tired and tattered-looking soldiers arrive.
The residents said they saw several soldiers, wearing torn uniforms and gloomy faces, returned in the wee hours of Tuesday.
It was gathered that residents suspect that the returning soldiers were among the 500 soldiers that fled to Cameroon on Monday.
A resident, Joseph Baba, said“we saw some of them purchasing second hand clothes at the Mubi main market”.
‘’Initially, we were afraid. People panicked when we sighted the troops. They arrived in the wee hours and people began to scamper for safety because no one knew their mission. I even thought they were Boko Haram disguised in military uniform as the insurgents usually do,” Mr. Baba said.
A source told newsmen that the soldiers will soon join their units to continue operations against the Boko Haram militants.
According to a security source, the Boko Haram sect is aiming to control the expansive areas of the Gamboru-Ngala because of its strategic location and vibrant commercial infrastructure conducive for establishment of an Islamic caliphate.
Boko Haram has continued to carry out terror attacks in northern Nigeria including an attack of a Training camp of the Nigeria Police Mobile Force (PMF) last week in Gwoza, Borno State.
No fewer than 35 soldiers were declared missing after attack at the camp, though eight of the policemen were said to have been found today, 26 August, 2014.
Boko Haram has also successfully conducted cross border raids into neighboring Cameroon including the highly publicized kidnapping of the wife of Cameroon’s Vice Prime Minister Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali in Kolofata in late July.
The group has increasingly developed a violent nature in its operations since the killing of its founding leader, Mohammed Younus, in 2009.
The Nigerian Chief of Staff, Lt-Gen. Kenneth Minimah had few days ago said they are ready to launch a massive attack on the terrorists across Nigeria.