Balmo Forest Operation: Troops Unearth More Weapons From Balmo Forest’s Underground Armories

The Nigerian Army has confirmed that its mopping up operations in Balmo Forest is yielding more discoveries of arms stockpiled in underground cells.

Director Defence Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade, in a statement said the  troops who have been excavating various sites in the forest in search of hidden weapons, and  have so far recovered over 10 rifles along with parts and accessories as well as more than 80 General Purpose Machine Guns, tubes of Rocket Propelled Grenades and Launchers, cables, wires and thousands of rounds of assorted ammunition.

GOC, 7 Division of Nigerian Army Removed

Major-General Chris Olukolade

The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 7 Division, Nigerian Army, Major General Ahmadu Mohammed, has been removed, according to attest information from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Maj.-Gen. Mohammed has been trending since last night when the news broke of how he escaped death by a whisker when a group of disgruntled soldiers turned their gun at his vehicle and pulled the trigger.

A report this morning quotes a top military source as confiding last night that the GOC had been removed over the incident. “The source added that details of the circumstances leading to the GOC’s removal would be made known shortly,” the report says, adding that attempts to confirm the removal of the GOC were unsuccessful as several calls and SMS sent to the phone of the spokesperson of defence headquarters, Major-General Chris Olukolade, were not replied.

Boko Haram Attack on Military Formations in Maiduguri, Death Toll Hit Over 500

Over 500 people were killed in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital  last week when security forces responded to what the military portrayed as an attempted jailbreak by the Islamist group Boko Haram, making it one of the bloodiest episodes in the military's five-year counterinsurgency, according to officials in the northern town of Maiduguri.