Boko Haram strike Nigeria capital again, kill troops 

Less than a week after the killings of eight elite soldiers of the Brigade of Guards in Abuja, more died on Thursday evening when President Muhammadu Buhari was presiding over the National Security Council meeting.

Boko Haram terrorists attacked a military checkpoint near Zuma rock in Niger State, some seven kilometres from the federal capital, killing at least six soldiers.

The checkpoint in Madalla town, on the Abuja-Kaduna highway, was attacked after the audacious July 24 assault on soldiers that caused national outrage.

The elite troops were returning from an operation when they were ambushed by the terrorists.

The series of attacks after the July 5 invasion of the Kuje prisons in which more than 950 inmates were freed shows that the terrorists have established cells in Abuja.

The latest attack on Thursday, described as retaliation for the killings of 30 of their gang members during the week, occurred at 7pm.

“The terrorists took control of the area for about 30 minutes and kept on shooting before heading towards the Kaduna axis of the expressway,” a military source said.

A few minutes after the terrorists left, soldiers from the Zuma barracks and a patrol team of policemen rushed to the scene and took control.

The incursion of terrorists into Abuja forced the government to shut schools this week to prevent attacks on schools and abductions of students.

In the offensive going on in Abuja, the defence headquarters on Thursday confirmed that the military had sent reinforcements, saying at least 30 terrorists had been killed.

The military on July 24 used ground forces and attack aircraft to target terrorists, Gen Benard Onyeuko, military spokesman, said on Thursday.

“Troops successfully cleared Kawu and Ido villages. Consequently, about 30 terrorists were neutralised and their enclave and hideout destroyed.”

He added that six motorcycles, two AK-47 rifles, one fully loaded LMG magazine and other items were seized.

At the end of the national security meeting presided over by President Buhari on Thursday night, presidential adviser Babagana Monguno said Nigeria was in a “very difficult situation”.

He said the president was aware of people’s concerns about the growing insecurity.

He explained that the Security Council meeting had noted that other actors in Nigerian society needed to be involved to end the violence. 

“It’s not something that should be confined to only the security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies,” he said.

“When we keep saying it is a whole of society approach, whole of government approach, a whole of nation approach, what it means is that everybody has to partake in this enterprise. 

“The truth is that no country can ever overcome the difficulties of an asymmetric conflict by virtue of the fact that the enemy of the state is embedded within the population, within the wider society.’’ 

He acknowledged that local people were scared and averse to helping the state but said their support was needed. 

“That is understandable. But without their support, without their cooperation in terms of giving information, it makes it very hard for the operational elements,” he said.