Air strikes: More insurgents, panic, surrender –Army

THE military says scores of terrorists in the North-East have continued to surrender to troops in the frontline due to sustained offensive by ground troops and pre-emp­tive air strikes by Nigerian Air Force.

A statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by the act­ing Army Director of Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said more terrorists have also indicated willingness to lay down arms.

Sani said ground troops had also adopted routes-blocking strategy in a bid to `constrict and snuff out’ Boko Haram terrorists from their hideouts.

“Many of the terrorists willingly surrendered paint­ed images of mass panic and hysteria among their erstwhile colleagues.

“They said their col­leagues were feeling the noose tightening on their necks with the relentless ef­forts of troops and renewed vigour in the operations in­spired by the personal lead­ership of the Chief of Army Staff.

“Terrorists also seem to have an inkling of what happens to surrendered sus­pects as regards screening and de-radicalisation of in­nocent ones among them,’’ it said.

Sani said the Nigerian Army, in conjunction with the Nigerian Air Force, and other security agencies, would continue to employ effective strategies to bring the insurgency to a speedy end.

It said the military would continue to receive surren­dering suspects and assured innocent ones among them that ‘surrendering is the only option open’ to them.

B’Haram drug suppliers caught with cannabis, others

The troops of the Nigerian Army have intercepted some   suspected members of the Boko Haram sect believed to be suppliers of hard drugs and other stimulants to the deadly sect.

The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in a statement on Tuesday that the suspects were arrested at Depchi and Geidam in Geidam Local Government Area of Yobe State.

He said that the arrested terrorists were also involved in the supply of fuel aside from the hard drugs in their possession.

Usman listed the drugs to include cannabis, chlorophone substance known as Madaran suck and die, trampoline and others .

“Following Army Headquarters directive to troops in the North-East for a painstaking search of motorists and cargoes, troops of the 3 Division of the Nigerian Army have intercepted and arrested some kingpins and foot soldiers of suppliers of Boko Haram terrorists with hard drugs and other stimulants between Depchi and Geidam, Geidam Local Government Area in northern part of Yobe State today,” the statement read in part.

He recalled that most of the Boko Haram members captured by the troops could not read the Holy Quran.

Usman added that some of them could not even recite the first chapter of the Quran in spite of their claim that they had a desire to establish an Islamic state.

He said that troops carrying out raids on the hideouts of the insurgents had not found the Quran or other Islamic books with the insurgents.

The Acting Army spokesman said that the troops had only found “ammunition, local charms, condoms and all sort of drugs including sex enhancing ones in their enclave.”

Usman, who said that those arrested had made statements, promised that the Army would continue to work towards ensuring the security of the country.

“The Nigerian Army would continue to do its best in the fight against terrorism and insurgency in our country in order to make Nigeria safe and secure.

“This however, requires continuous support and cooperation of the public. We always welcome and appreciate information that could lead to the arrest and pre-empting the Boko Haram terrorists and other criminal elements in the society,” he added.