Jutha Gupah, Maiduguri
The Acting General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 7 Division; Nigerian Army, Brig-Gen. Abdulmalik Biu has tasked troops to flush out insurgents from their hideouts in Borno and Yobe states. The flush outs, according to him, is in line with Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai’s directive to troops of Operation Lafiya Dole to take the war to their enclaves in Sambisa Forest and Lake Chad Basin. Deputy Director, Public Relations of the Division, Col. Ado Isa disclosed this on Saturday in a released statement in Maiduguri. Biu, also in the statement said: “I charged troops under this Army Command to redouble their efforts with renewed vigour, gallantry and doggedness in the fight against insurgency and terrorism in the theatre.” In achieving this, Commander of 28 Task Force Brigade, Sector 1, Operation Lafiya Dole, Brig-Gen. Mohammed Usman also charged troops of 117 Task Force Battalion to be “proactive and committed” in the fight against insurgency. He charged the troops, while commissioning a new Quick Response Group with motorcycle-fighting patrols in Chibok. According to him, the motorcycles will boost the fighting capacity and morale of troops; in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists within the theatre of war. “With the creation of the Special Motor Cycle Section, it will enable the troops chase the terrorists from their enclaves,” he said, urging that they should intensify the clearance operations and confidence building patrols of forest enclaves. He noted that the patrols should be within troops’ areas of responsibility, including Mbalala, Peyeso, Gatamarwa, Gogomdi, Shawa and Kwada among others used to be insurgents’ hideouts in Sambisa Forest. “This is to deny the insurgents freedom of movement and operations in Borno and Yobe states,” he said. While receiving the motor cycles; the Commanding Officer, Lt-Col. Abdulrahaman Bello pledged that the motorcycles will be deployed to chase the terrorists out from their enclaves and neutralise them.
