Soldiers rescue oil workers kidnapped by Boko Haram

The Nigerian Army says it has rescued all the oil workers kidnapped on Tuesday by Boko Haram members in Borno State.  

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents ambushed the convoy of the oil workers around Jilli and Borno yesu villages at Magumeri local government area of Borno State on Tuesday and whisked 10 of them away. 

President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to begin the search for oil in the region, which is believed to have huge deposits of the resource. 

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Army spokesman, Sani Usman, said troops rescued all the “NNPC staff” and recovered the bodies of slain soldiers.

He also said some of the vehicles taken from the contingent were recovered.

‎”So far, they have rescued all the NNPC staff and recovered the corpses of the officer, eight soldiers and a civilian have who have been evacuated to 7 division medical services and hospital,” he said.

“The team recovered four vehicles, one of which includes a gun truck mounted with an anti-aircraft gun, two white Hilux taken away from NNPC staff and one blue Hilux belonging to CJTF (a vigilante group known as Civilian JTF). The team also recovered large quantities of arms and ammunition, several spare tyres, many jerry cans of containing petroleum, oil and lubricant, assorted drugs, improvised explosive device (IED) making materials, reflective jackets and a Motorola handheld radio, among others. The team also neutralised many of the terrorists. The troops are not relenting in the pursuit, search and rescue effort,” Usman added.