On Tuesday 17th May 2016, troops of 1 Brigade Nigerian Army operating under the auspices of Operation MESA in Zamfara State, raided suspected cattle rustlers and armed bandits camp at Yan Mangu forest, near Dandindin village, Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

The troops also arrested 2 bandits and recovered  1 AK-47 rifle, 1 AK-47 rifle magazine loaded with 7 rounds of 7.62mm (Special) ammunition, 3  locally made guns and 1 motorcycle.

The two suspects were arrested while attempting to flee from the camps.

Nevertheless, the troops have destroyed all the bandits’  camps in the forest and  are further dominating the general area and other flash points with raids and patrols.

The public are kindly requested to continue to be more security conscious and report any suspicious movement or persons  to the nearest security  agencies.

Meantime, in continuation with the  special clearance and rescue operations otherwise known as Operation CRACKDOWN, within the Sambisa forest, troops of 7 Division have yesterday Tuesday, 17th May 2016, cleared Boko Haram terrorists out of their Njimia camp within Sambisa forest.

While advancing earlier in the morning on the same day, the troops also cleared Boko Haram terrorists camps at Alafa, where they encountered heavy resistance from Boko Haram terrorists   and killed 15 of them.

The troops continued their advance through Alafa Main, Alafa Extension and Alafa Yaga-yaga, where they cleared remnants of the Boko Haram terrorists   hibernating there before arriving at their main objective, Njimia.

Apart from destroying the camps, the troops rescued 41 hostages who were mostly women and children. The troops also recovered 2 Dane Guns,  several vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles belonging to the terrorists.

One significant aspect of this feat today  was the combination of ground forces assault, Nigerian Air Force Jets provision for combat air support and monitoring of the operation directly by the Acting General Officer Commanding 7 Division, Brigadier General Victor Ezugwu on board Air Force reconnaissance aircraft.

It is gratifying to note that no casualty was recorded by own troops through the conduct of this operation