Nigerian army rescues 178 abducted by Boko Haram

“During this operation, 178 people held hostage by terrorists were saved, including 101 children, 67 women and 10 men”, he said in a statement.

Hundreds have been freed from Boko Haram captivity this year, including 71 last week, but none of the 219 girls abducted in April 2014 from a school in Chibok have been among the rescued.

“They called our attention that there were trucks fully loaded with Nigerians who after investigation are refuges, internally displaced by Boko Haram and repatriated by Cameroon gendarmes”, Mr. Bello said.

The Islamist group is responsible for the deaths of about 5,500 people since 2014.

He said the momentum would be sustained in the ongoing operations against the terrorists in the North East, until all portions of Nigeria’s territory were safe and free from the insurgents.

Violence by Boko Haram has also spilled over into Nigeria’s neighboring countries, with Cameroon, Chad and Niger being directly affected by the growing threat of the Takfiri group in recent months.

Gusau said that a Boko Haram commander had also been captured in the raids on camps around the town of Bama, about 70km southeast of the state capital Maiduguri.

Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of civilians, including women and children, with many either forced or indoctrinated into joining the extremists, rights groups say. Thirteen people were killed in an assault on Malari village about 20 kilometres from Maiduguri.

Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, appears in a video screen grab.

“Nigerian military is working tremendously to ensure that the number of suicide bombings is reduced in the country“.

According to the Daily Post, the militants stormed the community of Dille and surrounding villages of Askira Uba with AK-47s and petrol bombs.

Benin has pledged troops towards a 8,700-strong multinational force to combat Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to “spare no effort” to crush Boko Haram which has become the main security threat to Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy.

Witnesses in nearby villages said the militants had set fire to houses, sending columns of black smoke into the sky. “There is nobody in Gamboru”, he told AFP.