BORNO, JANUARY 5, 2018 – The Nigerian Army has explained how the Chibok girl, Salomi Pogu, and 2,000 others including women and children were rescued following military operations around Gwoza and Sambisa general area of Borno state.
The Theatre Commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Rogers Nicholas, noted that Pogu is the 107th Chibok school girl to be rescued nearly four years after abduction.
Addressing journalists on Thursday, he explained that: “Operations are going on across the Sambisa General area and as a result, this morning, one of the abducted Chibok girls was rescued alongside one other girl who has a baby.
“They are here with us and are undergoing medicals thereafter we would hand them over to the state government for further administration,” the Theatre Commander stated.
He also noted that operations in the northern axis of the state have led to the capture of some areas and recovery of equipment.
“We recovered some gun trucks, some armoured vehicles, a large quantity of ammunition and rocket launchers among others. There was no casualty on our side but there was a heavy casualty on their side,” Rogers stated.
Furthermore, he noted that over 200 Boko Haram members surrendered to the troops in the northern fringes during the operations around Tumbus in Chad general area.
General Rogers attributed the successes recorded to the collaborative efforts of the components of Operation Lafiya Dole which he said include the Army, Airforce, Navy, Police, State Security Service, Civil Defence and the Civilian JTF.”
Speaking on the recent review of curfew hours in Maiduguri from 10 pm to 8 pm by the state government, the theatre command explained that intelligence reports informed the decision.
“Curfews are normally imposed based on operational exigencies, based on security report; we are conducting operations so when we got some intelligence we needed to review the curfew.
“Curfews are normally imposed by the state government we can only advise them on what we think should be done and his Excellency felt it was okay so he announced the review; when we are also satisfied with the situation we will let him know again and he will lift the curfew,” he assured.
