Amid cloud of confusion over a report about terrorists’ attacks and destruction of Nigerian military fighting hardware, MRAPs in Zamfara state, North-West, Nigeria, the Nigerian Defece Headquarters DHQ, on Monday cleared the air, saying is terrorist propaganda.
The report which also went viral claimed that a terrorist commander, Bello Turji overran soldiers-fighting troops of OP Hadarin Daji and subsequently seized troops’ MRAPs at Kwashabawa Village Zurmi LGA of Zamfara State, during a fight.
Dismissing the report the military authorities (DHQ) said in a press statement by the Director of Defence Media Operations, DMO, Major General Edward Buba, “On 29 Aug 24, at about 1700hrs, troops of OP HADARIN DAJI deployed at FOB Zurmi in Zurmi LGA of Zamfara State, embarked on fighting patrol to dislodge terror gathering at Kwashabawa Village. Troops engaged the terrorist enroute the location.
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During the fight, while attempting to outflank the terrorist. Quantity 2 of troops MRAPs got bogged down due to the swampy terrain occassioned by the rainy”.
“While, troops tried to extricate the MRAPs, the terrorist mass up knowing the challenge troops had encountered with the MRAPs.
“Subsequently, troops dismounted and demobilzed the MRAPs, when efforts to backload them were futile. The sad demobilization of the MRAPs by troops was to prevent it from being useful to the terrorist after abandonment. These situations further illustrate the effect of weather in changing conditions for ground operations”, Buba stated.
On a similar report, the statement clarifies, “In a related development, the attention of DHQ has been drawn to a trending video propagated from the terrorist camp. The video depicted the killing of several civilians in a mass grave.
“It must be noted that, the incident never took place in Nigeria. Rather, it sadly took place in a nearby African country faced with terrorism.
“The terrorist in an act of desperation, tried to manipulate the situation to mislead gullible members of the public. The armed forces unequivocally states that, at no time were 150 persons abducted in Gobir (Sokoto State).
“The rumoured abduction was deliberately planted by the terrorist to undermine troops winning efforts and cover up terrorist weakness.
“On the whole, the public is urged to be circumspect of the antics of the terrorist to propagate misinformation, disinformation and fake news as part of their war propaganda effort.
“These situations are not uncommon in war. 6. The dynamic and ever changing environment of war creates some of these experiences.
“Nevertheless, troops retain operational flexibility to make adjustments in achieving the strategic objective of winning the war”.
