President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned Service Chiefs to an emergency security meeting over the Boko Haram attacks on Nigerian soldiers, the most recent in Metele, Borno state, northeast Nigeria.
The Boko Haram splinter group killed at least 44 soldiers in attacks on three military bases in Borno State, northern Nigeria at the weekend.
The report stated that out of the 44 soldiers, no fewer than 43 were killed on Sunday in Metele, a remote village near the Nigerian border with Niger, according to a military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Giving an account of the incident, a military officer stated, “Our troops were completely routed and the terrorists captured the base after heavy fighting,” adding that the base commander and three officers were among the dead.
Reacting to the development, the Senate on Thursday ordered its committees on Army and Defence to investigate the killings as well as welfare and wellbeing of Nigerian troops fighting the insurgency.
The Senate also resolved to visit officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces at the battlefield, particularly in the Northeast.
This online news medium reports that the attack on the 157 task force battalion stationed in Metele left scores of soldiers dead while some are still missing.
While some estimates put the casualty figure at over 100, the army while commenting on Friday, failed to divulge the death toll.
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Reacting to the attack, President Buhari summoned service chiefs in the country over the matter.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reliably gathered that the urgent meeting was necessitated by the latest security developments across the battlefields in the North East region of the country. A source confirmed the development to NAN.
It was learned that the Federal Government pronouncement on the latest victims of Boko Haram insurgency was being delayed because families of the victims were being identified and contacted.
“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs.
“And the families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks.
“This, it is understood is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,’’ the source added.
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