Nigerian Army releases 244 terrorist suspects

The Nigerian Army has released 244 suspects who had been held in connection to involvement with terrorist group, Boko Haram, to the Borno State government on Monday, January 15, 2018.

In commemoration of the 2018 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major-General Rogers Nicholas, handed over the suspects to Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima.

According to him, the release of the suspects was approved by the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai, after a proper de-radicalisation process.

He assured that the released suspects have been thoroughly screened and that the military is quite confident that they've turned a new leaf.

At the Military Cemetery in Maiduguri where the Remembrance Day celebration held, Governor Shettima commended the military for its commitment to bringing lasting peace to the troubled northeast that has been ravaged by terrorist activity.

Of the suspects that were released, there were 118 men, 56 women, 19 under-aged, and 51 children.

Army gets new vehicles in war against Boko Haram

The Nigerian Army took delivery of some military vehicles from automobile manufacturing company, Innoson, to deploy in its ongoing war against Boko Haram.

The army announced on Monday, January 15, that the vehicles have been deployed to troops of Operation Lafiya Dole fighting Boko Haram in the northeast.

Boko Haram menace

Since the insurgency of the terrorist group escalated after a 2009 crackdown by the military, Boko Haram, chiefly under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau, has been responsible for the death of over 20,000 people and the displacement of more than 2.5 million scattered across Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps across the country and its neighbours.

After a massive military operation resulted in the displacement of the group from its Camp Zero base in the infamous Sambisa Forest, it has resorted to suicide bomb attacks on soft targets and carried out daring attacks on military bases, with hundreds of captives still unaccounted for.