Taibat Shittu/
The death toll in the Boko Haram ambush on an oil exploration team in the Chad Basin has risen to 69, with more persons still missing.
Army authorities disclosed the latest casualty figure, on Sunday, just as the acting president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, gave the military marching orders to rescue the three staff of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) being held by the Boko Haram terrorists.
One of the three was identified as Yusuf Ibrahim, a lecturer in the Geology department. The other two were identified simply as Dr. Solomon, another lecturer and Haruna, a driver. They were abducted during the ambush on the oil exploration team, on July 25, in Borno State.
The army confirmed the recovery of 21 more bodies and also said six persons were still missing. Security sources, however, suggest the figure may be much higher than that.
The army spokesman, Brigadier General Sani Usman, in a statement, also apologised over his initial claim that all those abducted in the ambushed were rescued and only 10 people died.
The statement said: “So far the search and rescue team has recovered additional bodies of 5 soldiers, 11 Civilian JTF and 5 members of the exploration team.”
Usman said the army has recovered two of its gun trucks and an additional Toyota Buffalo Gun truck from the insurgents.
“In addition, the team also made the following recoveries; four rocket-propelled grenade bombs, four rocket propelled grenade chargers, six AK-47 rifles, one anti-aircraft gun, on general purpose machine gun, one anti-aircraft gun barrel, one rocket-propelled grenade tube, four Dane guns, eight tyres and two Tyre Rims,” the statement added.
Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, quoted the acting president in a statement, on Sunday, that the federal government was on top of the situation.
According to the statement, the acting president said: “Some of these extraordinarily selfless Nigerians from the NNPC and the University of Maiduguri put their lives on the line that we and generations to come will enjoy the resources of this land.
“We will never forget that sacrifice.
“The objective of this patriotic exercise is to open up new areas for oil exploration for the common good of all Nigerians.
“The terrorist attack resulted in a number of deaths of hard working and innocent Nigerians, and the abduction of some.”
Osinbajo commiserated with families who lost loved ones to the incident and ordered the continuation of search and rescue missions to locate and ensure the freedom of all remaining abducted persons.
He also hailed the resilience, courage and bravery of the soldiers for their gallant sacrifices for the peace, security and territorial integrity of the country.
A convoy of NNPC Frontier Exploration services and Surface Geochemistry sampling crew was ambushed and attacked by Boko Haram in Gubio Local Government area of Borno.
The team comprises consultants from the University of Maiduguri, some military personnel and members of the civilian JTF escort team.
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