The Nigerian Defence Headquarters on Saturday evening confirmed that it lost 14 soldiers to the Thursday attack on Baga town, Borno State while 30 soldiers were injured and are currently receiving treatment.
The headquarters also said some of the soldiers that were earlier declared missing after the attack, have re-united with their colleagues while the military was still studying the best way to reclaim the town.
The attack which lasted several hours on Thursday, is reported to have left about 2,000 people dead with several scores injured in what the Amnesty International described as the worst single attack of the Boko Haram group.
So far, President Goodluck Jonathan has refused to make a statement concerning this recent attack even though he made a statement condemning the recent Charlie Hebdo attack that left 12 dead in France.
Senator Maina Maaji Lawan said currently, the Boko Haram controls 70 percent of Borno State while top government official, Musa Alhaji Bukar, is reported to have described Baga as a ghost town since the attack.
He further asked that the Nigerian troops be focused for once and stem the spread of the Boko Haram, saying after setting up check-points in the town, members of the Boko Haram group began to search for and kill people who were hiding in the bush and leaving the corpse to rot away.
The Defence Headquarters also said its men engaged in “a mopping up operation around Damaturu after successfully foiling and containing the terrorists attempt to occupy parts of the town.
The headquarters’ statement read: “The terrorists launched massive attack from different directions of the town on Friday evening, but troops were promptly mobilized to repel the attack that lasted the night resulting in heavy casualty on the terrorists before the rest of them retreated.
“Weapons including IEDs and Rocket Propelled Grenades captured from the terrorists are being compiled while their dead as well as civilian casualties are yet to be determined.
“Pursuit of the fleeing terrorists is also ongoing while the 5 soldiers who were seriously wounded in the attack are being treated in the military medical facility.
“Although normalcy has been restored, the town is also being reinforced with more troops. More details later.
“Meanwhile the situation in Baga is still being studied to determine the appropriate action that will restore law, order and normalcy to the community after the attack mounted by hundreds of heavily armed terrorists last weekend.
“A total of 14 soldiers were killed in action during the attack, while over 30 who were wounded are now receiving medical attention.
“Most of those declared missing in action have also rejoined their unit in the ongoing reorganization for further operations.
“Although several of the terrorists died in the course of the attack and efforts at repelling the assailants, the actual figure of civilian casualties is yet to be creditably determined as is being propagated in certain quarters.
“The Nigerian military has not given up on Baga and other localities where terrorists activities are now prevalent.
“Appropriate plans, men and resources are presently being mobilized to address the situation.
“The Nigerian component of the Multinational Joint Task Force which retreated from its Baga Headquarters last weekend and more of the troops are regrouping for necessary debrief and briefing for subsequent missions.
“It is necessary to reassure Nigerians that the Nigerian Armed Forces and security agencies are capable of flushing out the terrorists from Baga and all parts of the nation’s territory where their activities are prevalent. No portion of Nigeria’s territory has been or will be conceded to terrorists.
“The use of all available resources within the armed forces will continue to be maximised to sustain the tempo of the counter terrorism campaign towards containing and eradicating terrorism in the nation’s territory.
“The support and understanding of all partners and neighbouring countries will however continue to be utilised where available and relevant in the conduct of the mission and in line with existing agreement and understanding.”
