The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has debunked reports that scores were killed and kidnapped in Sokoto State, News About Nigeria reports.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj Gen Edward Buba, debunked this report in a statement on Monday.
He rejected allegations that bandits in Zamfara State seized two armoured vehicles and also dismissed reports of a large number of civilians being killed and buried en masse by terrorists.
Additionally, he refuted claims that over 150 terrorists were abducted by other terrorists in Sokoto State.
This comes after videos emerged over the weekend claiming the kidnaps and attacks.
In a video, the bandits claimed they hijacked two armoured vehicles from the troops and were seen celebrating it.
In another video, terrorists were shown conducting a mass burial for citizens, while the last video claimed that over 150 residents were kidnapped in Sokoto State.
Buba, however, described those videos as fake, stating that the two armoured vehicles got stuck due to the swampy nature of the area while troops were trying to outflank the terrorists gathering at Kwashabawa Village.
He added that the troops demobilised the vehicles to prevent the terrorists from making use of them.
He further noted that the trending video of terrorists conducting mass burials for citizens never happened in the country.
The statement reads in part, “On August 29, troops of OP HADARIN DAJI deployed at FOB Zurmi in Zurmi LGA of Zamfara State, embarked on fighting patrol to dislodge terror gatherings at Kwashabawa Village. Troops engaged the terrorists en route to the location.
“During the fight, while attempting to outflank the terrorist. Quantity 2 of troops MRAPs got bogged down due to the swampy terrain occasioned by the rain. While troops tried to extricate the MRAPs, the terrorists massed up, knowing the challenge troops had encountered with the MRAPs.
“Subsequently, troops dismounted and demobilised the MRAPs when efforts to backload them were futile. The sad demobilisation of the MRAPs by troops was to prevent it from being useful to the terrorists after abandonment. These situations further illustrate the effect of weather on changing conditions for ground operations.
“In a related development, the attention of DHQ has been drawn to a trending video propagated from the terrorist camp. The video depicted the killing of several civilians in a mass grave. It must be noted that the incident never took place in Nigeria. Rather, it sadly took place in a nearby African country faced with terrorism.”
