Troops of the Nigerian Army on Tuesday repelled attacks coordinated by Boko Haram at Moloi Village on the outskirts of Maiduguri.
Brig.-Gen. Bulama Biu, the General Officer Commanding (GOC)
7 Division and Commander Sector 1 of Operation Lafiya Dole, confirmed the
development in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) late
on Tuesday.
The jihadists reportedly fired sporadic shots in an attempt
to infiltrate the community at about 6:30 p.m., forcing villagers to flee.
The development sparked speculations that the insurgents
were on course to attacking Maiduguri, the capital but Biu dismissed the report
as misleading.
He said that `gallant’ troops had repelled an attempt by the
terrorists to infiltrate Moloi community.
“Troops neutralized a number of the insurgents and repelled
the attack,’’ the GOC stated.
`Neutralized’ is a military term to say that jihadists were
killed but the commander did not state the exact number of insurgents killed by
troops.
Biu said that those “spinning’’ reports that Maiduguri was
under siege were not based in the metropolis, adding that he had visited the
scene of attack.
“The insurgents came and fired some shots but troops engaged
and repelled them. Some disgruntled elements are peddling misleading
information that Maiduguri is under attack.
“How can Maiduguri be under attack when we already repelled
them?
“They attempted to infiltrate Moloi village in the outskirts
of Maiduguri but they were immediately countered.
“As I speak to you now, I am standing in Molai village.
Troops are exploiting the area in hot pursuit of the fleeing insurgents,” said
Biu.
He called on residents of Maiduguri not to panic, stressing
that the situation was under control.
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