‘The gallant troops also rescued dozen of kidnapped women and children held captive by Boko Haram terrorists.
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A statement issued in Abuja by the acting Director of Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Usman, said the suspects were arrested with large quantity of foodstuff.
The Nigerian troops had recorded similar triumph over Boko Haram on Tuesday when freeing a dozen of women and children earlier kidnapped by the insurgents in the northeast region of the country.
He welcomed the pronouncement by President Buhari that some members of the Boko Haram terrorist group are in negotiation with the Federal Government over the possibility of releasing the Chibok girls abducted on April 14, 2014.
He said that this was in furtherance to the combined efforts of the Nigerian Armed Forces and other security organisations to counter terrorism and insurgency in the North-East.
The first adjustment was to include financing for an economic and social development plan, the government said.
“We are trying to establish if they are bona fide, how useful they are in Boko Haram, have they reached a position of leadership where their absence is of relevance to the operation of Boko Haram?” he said.
Officials in Cameroon’s north on Monday praised a local self-defense group for confronting Boko Haram militants during a suicide bombing attack over the weekend, a move they said greatly reduced fatalities.
According to the president, one of Boko Haram’s demands in exchange for the girls is the release of one of the group’s members. An estimated 20,000 people have been killed in the 6-year-old uprising and some 2.1 million driven from their homes, some across borders.
Usman noted, “The Nigerian Army is trying hard to ensure safety of the rescued persons but not taking anything for granted as some of them are suspected terrorists”.
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Boko Haram declared allegiance to the Islamic State in March and has since referred to itself as the caliphate’s “West Africa Province”.
