Troops of Operation Fire Ball have neutralised seventy-five Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists in various operations conducted between 28th September and 31st October, 2020.
Brigadier General Benard Onyeuko, Acting Director Defence Media Operation disclosed this Tuesday at the Nigerian Army Special Super Camp One Ngamdu, Borno State.
He said Operation Fire Ball is a subsidiary operation under Operation Lafiya Dole meant to clear the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists from their identified enclaves in the North East region.
He also noted that the Operation has recorded tremendous successes within the short period from its existence with the last week of the preceding month proving to be the deadliest against the criminals.
“The troops in the various Sectors of the Theatre have continued to carry out their tasks relentlessly.
“The successes so far achieved wouldn’t have been possible without the sacrifice, commitment and gallantry exhibited by the well-motivated troops some of whom have paid the supreme sacrifice.
“Within this period, the troops have carried out aggressive clearance operations, ambushes, robust day and night patrols in order to finally decimate the remnants of the Boko Haram/ISWAP criminals.
“Consequently, as a result of the aggressive offensive action carried out by the troops, several terrorists elements have been neutralized as large number of their equipment were captured while some were equally”, he stated.
According to Onyeuku, apart from neutralizing 75 Boko Haram terrorists, 4 gun trucks, 1 Bedford truck, 3 anti and aircraft guns belonging to the terrorists were destroyed, while 6 gun trucks, 4 anti-aircraft guns, 1 PKT gun, 4 general-purpose machine guns, 1 automatic grenade launcher, 1 dushka gun, 1 light machine gun, 48 AK 47 rifles, 1 locally made pistol and 10 AK 47 magazines were also recovered during the operation.
“Furthermore, large cache of ammunition were captured also. This includes: 1 x 36 Hand Grenade, 567 rounds of 7.62mm Special ammunition, 448 rounds of 12.7mm ammunition, 50 x Rocket Propelled Grenade bombs, 17 locally manufactured rounds, 3 shells for making Improvised Explosive Device, 1 x Smoke Grenade and 2 x belts of PKT rounds. Other assorted non-lethal items were also captured from the criminals”, Oyeuko said.
He, however, revealed that one officer and two gallant soldiers paid the supreme price, while four other soldiers were wounded in action over the period and have been evacuated to a medical facility and currently responding to treatment.
