Nigerian army frees 178 held by Boko Haram, including many children

Spokesman Col. Tukur Gusau said that 101 of those freed are children, along with 67 women and 10 men.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian government said it carried out airstrikes in the northeast of the country to repel an attack by Boko Haram and killed a “large number” of the extremists on Sunday.

Azem Bermendoa Agouna said,”For two weeks, Boko Haram terrorists have been trying to infiltrate our islands on Lake Chad to varry out attacks on peaceful citizens”.

“The attackers burnt down some houses and killed seven persons in the village situated along Konduga-Maiduguri road”, Opadokun said.

Nigerian soldiers patrol in the north of Borno state close to a former camp of Boko Haram, on June 5 …

Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, the defense chief fired when Buhari got rid of the top echelon of Nigeria’s military last month, complained last week that “fifth columnists” in the military have leaked operational plans to Boko Haram. “Many of the terrorists were killed in the course of the operations, but mop up is still going on”.

At a meeting in Cameroon in February, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger agreed to deploy around 8,700 troops, with Benin pledging 250.

The Nigerian army has introduced the discharge of a whole lot of individuals held captive by Boko Haram in current months, particularly within the infamous Sambisa forest, a longtime Islamist stronghold now affiliated with the Islamic State group.

“Dear brothers, exercise patience as we face the Nigerian army and African Union”, an unidentified speaker, wearing a turban, says in the roughly nine-minute-long video.

Boko Haram was pushed out of most of the vast swathes of territory it controlled at the start of the year but they have dispersed and returned to their guerrilla tactics of hitting soft targets with bombs and raiding towns.

Badeh, a former air drive chief earlier than he was appointed head of protection employees, didn’t specify which administrations allegedly uncared for the Nigerian army or which overseas nations purportedly suggested them to take action.