Boko Haram remains defeated —Army chief

THE Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Yusuf Buratai has insisted that “Boko Haram remains technically defeated forever.”

A tweet by the Nigerian Army on Friday quoted Buratai as stating this in his assessment of operation Lafiya Dole after relocating to the North East.

The tweet also quoted the Army boss as asserting that “troops morale remain high.”

Buratai’s claims came against the background of an attack on Friday by Boko Haram which bombed a hospital in Maiduguri. Only the two bombers and two security dogs were killed in the attack.

The attack was foiled by the two dogs.

The Borno State police spokesperson, Victor Isuku, stated that the failed attack was carried out by male and female bombers.

The two dogs died after they foiled the bomb attack on the hospital.

The police statement said: “Today, 4/8/2017, at about 0515hrs, two bombers, male and female, attempted to gain entry into the temporary settlement area for rehabilitated leprosy patients within the premises of Molai general hospital, in the outskirts of Maiduguri township, along Maiduguri-Damboa Highway.

“They were prevented by the persistent barking and attacks from dogs in the area.”

“In the process, they hurriedly detonated IEDs strapped to their bodies, killing themselves. No other casualty was recorded.

“Police EOD teams were promptly drafted to scenes, to sanitize and render the area and its surrounding safe. Normalcy has since been restored.”

Similarly, the chairman of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, Mr Fatomi Ahmed, said the agency had deployed a rescue team to evacuate debris at the scene of the foiled attack.

The blasts happened in series with the first explosion going off at 3.50 a.m. The second one reportedly went off between 5.00 a.m. and 5.30 a.m.