Six soldiers killed after stepping on mines, not Boko Haram attack – Gen. Adeniyi

From SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri –

Theater Commander of Operation Lafiyà Dole, Theater Command Headquarters Maimalari Cantonment Maiduguri, Major-General Olusegun Gabriel Adeniyi, said on Wednesday that there was no attack by  Boko Haram insurgents in either Banki town or Bama town last Sunday ‘killing six soldiers’ as reported by some media.

He said: “There was no Boko Haram attack in either Banki town or Bama town where 6 Soldiers were killed. But unfortunately, 6 Soldiers paid their supreme prince early morning on Sunday while on clearance patrol at Banki Junction general area before allowing motorists to ply road.”

Major-General Adeniyi, who described the report in the media as untrue, clarified that the affected Soldiers had stepped on mines, which killed them “when they were doing early morning clearance of IED so that motors can use the road.”

He was reacting to reports the media, especially online newspapers and social media that Nigerian troops were attacked on March 15 by suspected Boko Haram members who killed six of the soldiers in Banki, a Borno state community that houses about 45,000 people displaced by the Boko Haram violence.

The reports alleged that the six included two lance corporals, two sergeants, and two privates.

According to the reports, the Banki attack was the most recent in the litany of attacks by the Boko Haram members who came unexpectedly with sophisticated weapons.