Top Boko Haram Commander k!lled As Troops Rescue Nine Farmers In Borno

Troops of 144 Battalion, in collaboration with hybrid forces, have nutrialised a top Boko Haram commander, Ari Ghana, and five of his bodyguards in Borno State.

Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert and security analyst in the Lake Chad region, disclosed this on his X handle, (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, noting that the troops engaged and killed the terrorists in Takaskala in Gwoza Local Government Area.

Makama quoted one of the intelligence sources as saying, “On September 25, our troops laid an ambush at the crossing point of the terrorists around the Mandara Mountains. After one hour, a large number of terrorists came to cross with motorcycles.

“On noticing that the team were two in number, the troops waited for the second badge, suspecting that it was Ari Gana and his team. The troops then opened fire at them, killing five terrorists, including Ari Gana.

“It was gathered that Ari Gana, before meeting his waterloo, was deputising Ali Ngulde, the leader of Shekau’s faction of Boko Haram in Mandara Mountains and had led dozens of attacks around Bama, Banki and Gwoza in Borno State.”

In another development, reports have it that troops of 195 Battalion under the Joint Task Force North East Operation HADIN KAI yesterday rescued nine local farmers kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists around Maiwa village, Mafa local government area of Borno state.

It was learnt that among the nine rescued farmers, three are women, the remaining six are men.

The troops were said to have recovered one AK 47 rifle, one magazine and 30 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition.