“Baga town is not in the hands of the Boko Haram. They contested it (taking the over the border town) but they lost the contest,’’ Maj.-Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, the Chief of Training and Operations disclosed on the sidelines of a news conference in Maiduguri. 

Adeosun, however, confirmed that as at Thursday, troops engaged the terrorists in a fierce battle in the efforts to repel them.

“They terrorised the town and attacked the Headquarters of the 7 Brigade of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) at about 7 p.m. on Wednesday,’’ he said. 

Giving an update on Thursday, the army spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman confirmed that a naval officer was killed as troops repelled the attack.

Usman added the Nigerian Air Force component of the Operation Lafia Dole was mobilised to engage the fleeing terrorists.