Informed military sources have just told www.calitown.com that six soldiers of Cross River extraction lost their lives in the recent Boko Haram attack in Gwoza, Borno state. Painfully, four of the six died when their armoured personnel carrier, APC, struck a land mine deployed by the sect while the other two died in active combat, defending the nation. Our sources may have declined to give out the identity of the six soldiers because “it is against my training as a soldier. At the right time, the military will give out the names”, one source said.
One source maintains that “the war against Boko Haram cannot be won easily. You need to understand that in most of those villages recruitment into the sect is like an altar call, sect members arrive with about 60 brand new bikes and ask villagers who are interested in joining Boko Haram to come out and take possession of the bikes. Most of the young men come out, join and take possession of a bike”. It was further revealed that it was in one of such villages that a group of soldiers of the Nigerian Army were ambushed by the sect and brutally slain, resulting in the death of the two Cross Riverians.
Again, another miltary source is insisting that “until our superiors understand that we cannot use AK 47s to fight people with RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and 88mm rifles, we cannot win the war”. It is a submission that must be seriously taken in the fight to throw out the sect.
This is very sad news. May their souls rest in peace.