Troops of Operation Fire Ball, a subsidiary of Operation Lafiya Dole have killed 22 Boko Haram terrorists in northeast Nigeria. The acting Director, Defence Media Operations, Brigadier General Bernard Onyeuko disclosed this to journalists on Tuesday at the Army Special super Camp 1 Ngamdu, near Borno State.

He said while a large number of women and children were rescued unhurt between November 1 to 24, a terrorist who specialised in the manufacturing of Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was captured alive. “Most importantly, a number of women and children hitherto held captive were rescued unhurt. In this regard, a total of 22 Boko Haram/Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists were neutralised while one terrorist Improvised Explosive Device (IED) expert was captured alive during one of our encounters with them,” he said.

“As a result of the aggressive and offensive actions carried out by the troops, several elements have been neutralised and large numbers of their equipment were captured including large quantities of their logistics consignments which were intercepted recently by our troops.

“Equally, the gallant troops courageously intercepted some Boko Haram criminals while attempting to collect ransom from the relations of the abducted victims leading to the decimation of the criminals and rescue of three women and two children.”