No fewer than 36 soldiers and Mobile Police officers have been reportedly killed following coordinated attacks by suspected Boko Haram insurgents on two military formations in Gujba Local Government Area.
The midnight assaults, which occurred around 1am on Friday, targeted the Theatre Training Centre Buniyadi and the 27 Task Force Brigade Buni Gari, both located in the hometown of Mai Mala Buni.
Surviving security personnel said the insurgents launched near-simultaneous attacks on the two facilities, overwhelming parts of the formations and engaging troops in hours-long gun battles.
A soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the attackers struck both camps almost at the same time, making reinforcement efforts difficult.
“My camp was attacked around 1:00am. While we were trying to respond, we were also hearing gunfire from the neighbouring formation,” he said.
According to him, three soldiers were killed at the 27 Task Force Brigade in Buni Gari, while casualties at the Buniyadi training centre were significantly higher.
Another source disclosed that the training facility, which accommodates both soldiers and Mobile Police officers undergoing counter-insurgency training, recorded heavy losses.
“About 33 personnel were killed at the training centre alone, including 17 Mobile Police officers, 10 soldiers on training, and six permanently deployed troops,” the source said.
The combined casualty figure from both attacks is estimated at 36, although military authorities have yet to issue an official statement as of the time of filing this report.
The attacks underscore growing concerns over renewed insurgent activities in the North-East, despite repeated assurances by the Federal Government that the Boko Haram group has been largely degraded.
Efforts to get confirmation from military authorities were unsuccessful, as calls and messages to defence spokespersons were not returned.
The latest incident adds to a series of recent attacks targeting military formations in the region, raising fresh questions about the security architecture in Nigeria’s conflict-prone North-East.
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