Gudumbali which is about a hundred and twenty-five kilometres from Maiduguri swallowed the blood of several Nigerian soldiers who paid the supreme sacrifice while fighting to take over the place from Boko Haram who had entrenched themselves in the lake chad region.
The naming of the Cenotaph was announced by the Army’s chief through the chief of operations training General David Ahmadu during a church service Sunday marking the Nigerian Army day.
The announcement is in honour of Nigerian troops killed in the lake chad region especially those who died and were buried in the area.
Hundreds of Nigerian troops were said to have died at that particular stronghold when Boko Haram engaged them in a deadly and bloody battle to gain control of the area.
Lt. Gen Buratai had on Saturday noted that the town was one of the strongholds of Boko Haram during the height of the insurgency, adding that “the army suffered heavy casualty and loss of equipment in the battle to liberate the town in 2015.”
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Buratai inaugurated the memorial arcade in commemoration of this year’s army day which involved a day of sanitation as part of activities lined up for the week.
The chief noted that it was quite difficult from 2013, to recapture Gudumbali which is about fifteen kilometres from Niger Republic because it was heavily mined and fortified by the insurgents who held it for months unchallenged.
Attempts made by 134 Battalion and then 157 to move in were successful as it allowed them to enter Gudumbali temporally only to pay the supreme sacrifice by being wiped out from the face of this world by insurgents in the very night of their first attempt to rest.
This to Chief Buratai is a sore point in the history of the army which is why “We will continue to pray that the souls of the departed both here and other places rest in perfect peace.
“This cenotaph will remain in our memories so that it will be a symbol, so anyone that comes here will associate himself and pray for the repose of the souls of the fallen heroes in this operation. We do not want to forget them.
Also on Sunday, Buratai said that troops of
Operations Lafiya Dole and Last Hold are proud to have degraded and destroyed Boko Haram insurgents to protect the territorial integrity of the nation.
Buratai spoke at the St. Bartholomew military church combined service to mark Nigerian Army Day Celebration in Maiduguri day three.
He regretted that many soldiers have paid the supreme price of fighting Boko Haram insurgency to protect people’s lives and property since July 2009.
Buratai, who was represented by Chief of Operations and Training Army Major General. David Ahmadu, also charged the troops to remain focused because the new Operation Last Hold was to totally destroy the Boko Haram insurgents so that all displaced persons return to their ancestral homes in twenty-two liberated communities of Borno state.
Chaplain of St Bartholomew Military Church, Brig-Gen Dawuk Danfulani said that the plans of Boko Haram insurgents will be scattered and destroyed.
“We should always be victorious and glorify our Lord. Victory over Boko Haram insurgents and herdsmen wickedness will not prosper in this nation,” said Danfulani in his sermon.
He also committed the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj-Gen. Rogers Nicholas into the hand of God so that they may have victory over the wickedness of the insurgents.
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