The bodies of 9 gallant Nigerian soldiers have been recovered in Gudumbali town of Borno State while 20 more soldiers of the Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri are reportedly missing.
This followed a face to face exchange of fire between the troops and Boko Haram insurgents who were said to have planned a massive attack in the axis.
The soldiers were ambushed by the insurgents in a village called Granda, engaging them throughout the night from Monday until the early hours of Tuesday.
Some of the soldiers later fled, leading to the overpowering of the military base during which nine soldiers got killed in the battle.
They added that sadly seven out of the fallen soldiers were slaughtered as the insurgents beat a retreat.
The bodies of the slain soldiers have since been recovered, evacuated and deposited at the military hospital in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
According to eyewitnesses, the insurgents carted away a fuel tanker and other vehicles.
The ambushed battalion had just been deployed to Gudumbali to commence a new operational strategy codenamed “Super Camp”.
It was gathered that the insurgents had sent out spies around the military base who pretended to be farmers before the attack.
The Nigerian Army authorities have yet to confirm the casualty figure.
Our correspondent made several attempts to speak with the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Olusegun Adeniyi to no avail.
(C) Control TV, 2019
