Following recent Boko haram activities in the North-East, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, alongside his service chiefs has relocated to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state in order to be at the epi-centre of hostilities in the North-East of the country.
The Army Chief was also accompanied by at least 11 fighter aircraft which were deployed on Wednesday by the Nigerian Air Force to bomb Boko Haram terrorist positions along the Lake Chad in Tumbum Rego, Bula Korege, Kollaram and others.
This was revealed by the Director of Public Relations and Information for the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, who said the service chiefs had to relocate to the theatre of hostilities in order to asses troop strength and morale as well as to seek solution to the incessant offensives by Boko haram on elements of the Nigeria Army.
The relocation comes in the aftermath of Boko haram attacks on Nigerian military bases on the Northern front including Gudumbali an important cross-roads town which was taken by Boko haram for a few hours before it was recaptured by the Nigeria Army.
Related: Heavy Fighting as Nigerian Soldiers Clash with Boko Haram in Damasak
Foreign news agencies had reported that an unspecified number of civilians and army personnel had been killed in the attack but this was denied by the Nigeria Army.
Sources also revealed that Buratai was on the ground to pay “Rapid Fire Unscheduled Visit” to the troops in the theatre of operations to get first-hand information of recent happenings.
According to Army sources;
“The army chief is having a series of meetings with the locals and village heads of the several locations he is visiting and it is also aimed at finally breaking the nerve of Boko Haram. He is also inspecting the armouries, including support weapons in their inventories.”
The Nigerian military also said the Lake Chad terrain made it pretty difficult for military operations to be undertaken in the area.
“The Chief of Army Staff is in Borno and inspecting those locations and the Chief of the Air Staff has been to Borno earlier and he is also expected to come again.
I am also in Maiduguri. You have two Mi-35M helicopters, two Alpha Jets, a number of F-7Ni and other aircraft deployed in the troubled areas. So, there is a concentration of forces dealing with this problem.” The NAF spokesperson said.
Several other sources also stated that the Nigerian Military had established an operational headquarters at Gudumbali town soon after it was retaken from Boko haram by Nigerian forces.
Also Nigerian Soldiers battled Boko Haram insurgents throughout the Night into the early hours of the morning as the insurgents tried to invade a Nigeria Army outpost in the town of Damasak.
The attack came in two waves as the first wave which occurred around 6pm was neutralised by men of the Nigeria Army before a second wave hit shortly before dawn. The details of the battle is still pretty unclear but unconfirmed reports suggest that the Nigerian military repelled the attack successfully while Boko haram fighters suffered heavy casualties.