{"id":13673,"date":"2018-11-24T22:11:35","date_gmt":"2018-11-24T22:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=13673"},"modified":"2018-11-24T22:11:35","modified_gmt":"2018-11-24T22:11:35","slug":"metele-boko-haram-attack-soldiers-death-toll-rises-to-118-over-150-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=13673","title":{"rendered":"Metele Boko Haram Attack: Soldiers\u2019 death toll rises to 118; over 150 missing"},"content":{"rendered":"

New details obtained by PREMIUM TIMES have revealed that at least 113 soldiers were killed in the pre-dusk attack on 157 Task Force Battalion in Borno State on November 18.
\nThis newspaper can also confirm based on the accounts of top military officers that 153 soldiers are still missing in action as of November 24, nearly a week after the attack.
\nThose killed included the commander of the battalion, whom PREMIUM TIMES identified on November 20 as a lieutenant colonel.
\nIt has now been learnt that the second-in-command to the commander, the intelligence officer of the battalion and two other officers were amongst those killed by Boko Haram in the attack, which occurred at about 6:00 p.m. last Sunday.
\nWhen\u00a0PREMIUM TIMES broke the story of the attack on November 20, military sources were only able to confirm the killing of the commander and dozens of other soldiers.
\nIt was not immediately clear how many soldiers were manning the base during the attack, which was linked to Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA).
\nOn November 22, a soldier who escaped the attack and witnessed how his colleagues were killed by insurgents told PREMIUM TIMES 70 bodies had been confirmed.
\nSome media reports, including one by London-based newswire Reuters, cited sources as giving up to 100 soldiers killed by the insurgents in the attacks.
\nBut PREMIUM TIMES has now learnt from top officers that the casualty had risen significantly to 118 soldiers, comprising 113 soldiers and five officers.
\nOur sources also confirmed 153 soldiers are still missing in action, and wounded troops have been evacuated to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, for treatment.
\n
\nThe latest casualty number provided by military chiefs appeared to confirm Boko Haram\u2019s claim in a video released Thursday. French newswire AFP said it saw a video in which Boko Haram claimed killing 118 soldiers in attacks last week.
\nWhy we\u2019ve been quiet \u2014 Nigerian Army
\nDespite widespread condemnation and mourning that greeted the killings, the military rejected demands for an explanation on what led to the loss of such a high number of troops in one attack.
\nThe Nigerian Army, Defence Headquarters and the Nigerian Air Force all failed to return PREMIUM TIMES\u2019 requests for comments about the attack throughout the week.
\nIt was only on Friday night after the news of the high casualty figures gained heavy traction amongst Nigerians online that the military was compelled to issue a statement.
\nBut rather than provide specific details of the incident to Nigerians, and what was being done to curtail further sacking of Nigerian military bases in the volatile North-East, the Nigerian Army devoted a large part of its statement to bashing the media.
\n\u201cWhilst it is true that there was an attack\u201d on the Nigerian Army 157 Task Force Battalion on November 18, 2018, it has \u201cbecome necessary to correct several misinformation being circulated with regards to this unfortunate event,\u201d the Army said in a statement on its Twitter handle Friday night.
\nSeveral reports said the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) a faction of Boko Haram known to target military asset has claimed responsibility and published a video on the attack on Thursday. The video was circulated as having been shot during the attack in Metele on Sunday, but the Army said that claim was untrue.
\nThe Army said, \u201cseveral social media, print and online publications have been brandishing false casualty figures as well as circulating various footages of old and inaccurate\u201d Boko Haram \u201cpropaganda videos and alluding same to be the attack on 157 Task Force Battalion.
\n\u201cWhilst it is understandable how such misinformation can spread in this era of social media frenzy, the spurious circulation of some of these videos only contribute to further propagate the propaganda intent of the terrorists; to misinform the populace and portray themselves as what they are not,\u201d it said.
\nThe statement said normalcy had since returned to the battalion and Metele general area because \u201creinforcing units have been able to repel the terrorists.\u201d
\nThe Army blamed its failure to speak on the attack for nearly a week on the need to respect the families of the fallen soldiers and the anguish they were living through.
\n\u201cIt is important for the public to note that the NA has laid down procedures for reporting incidents that involve its personnel who fall casualty in action.
\n\u201cOut of respect for the families of our gallant troops, the NOKs are first notified before any form of public information so as to avoid exacerbating the grief family members would bear, were they to discover such from unofficial sources,\u201d it said.
\nA spokesperson for the Nigerian Army did not immediately return requests for comments on our fresh finding Saturday morning. It could not be learnt the efforts being made to find the missing troops.
\nThe latest attack in Metele followed\u00a0months of heavy losses of both personnel and equipment\u00a0which the insurgents have been inflicting on Nigerian military since resuming their latest campaign in July.
\nWorried about the rising cases of missing soldiers in Boko Haram attack, the chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, issued a warning to troops on the battlefront against fleeing from insurgents in August,\u00a0threatening errant personnel with a tough prosecution.
\nThe Defence Headquarters announced last week it had taken new delivery of military equipment, boasting of a tough time ahead for insurgents.
\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly summoned service chiefs over the attack. He also dispatched Nigeria\u2019s defence minister Mansur Dan Ali to the Chad Republic, a neighbouring country on whose borders the Boko Haram seemed to have waxed stronger in recent months.
\nBy Premium Times<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New details obtained by PREMIUM TIMES have revealed that at least 113 soldiers were killed in the pre-dusk attack on 157 Task Force Battalion in Borno State on November 18. This newspaper can also confirm based on the accounts of top military officers that 153 soldiers are still missing in action as of November 24, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13673\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}