The Defence Headquarters has described as mere propaganda terrorists claim of seizing and destroying two military MRAPs in Zamfara State.
This is just as the defence headquarters denied reports of mass abduction and killing of 150 civilians in Sokoto State.
The Director Defence Media Operations Major General Edward Buba in a statement said the vehicles were stuck in the mud during operations and demobilized by the troops to prevent them from being useful to the terrorists.
He said “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”.
He said the troops engaged the terrorist enroute the location.
“During the fight, while attempting to outflank the terrorist. Quantity two of troops MRAPs got bogged down due to the swampy terrain occasioned 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,” he said.
He also refuted claims of mass killing and mass abduction by terrorists in Northern Nigeria depicted in a now viral video.
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,” he said.
He therefore, urged the general public to be circumspect of the antics of the terrorist to propagate misinformation, disinformation and fake news as part of their war propaganda effort.
He said “these situations are not uncommon in war. 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,” he added.
