An ambush attack by Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria against an oil exploration team has killed more than 50 people, according to sources, who said the death toll could rise further.

The terrorists attacked a convoy of specialists from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the Magumeri area of northeastern state of Borno on Tuesday, sources said on Friday.

Initial reports from the army, which suggested that the ambush had been an abduction attempt, put the number of casualties at a mere ten. Reports later claimed that the abducted geologists and surveyors, who worked at the University of Maiduguri, had been rescued.

But details gradually emerged showing that the attack had been an ambush that killed many more people than originally reported.

“The death toll keeps mounting,” one source involved in dealing with the aftermath of the attack told AFP. “Now we have more than 50 and more bodies are coming in.”

“It’s clear that the attack wasn’t for abduction. They (Boko Haram) attacked just to kill,” he added.

Several others still remain missing, the sources said.

Meanwhile, an aid agency worker in the area said some of the many victims killed in the attack had been burned to death.

“Eleven of them were badly burned in the attack. They were burned alive in their vehicle, which was stuck in a trench,” he added. “We buried them here because they couldn’t be taken to Maiduguri.”

“Many more could be recovered because search and rescue teams are all over the place,” the worker said.

Eight years of militancy by Boko Haram has so far killed more than 20,000 people.

Following the Tuesdays attack, the Federal Government said on Thursday that it would once again halt oil exploration in the Lake Chad Basin in the northeast, where Nigeria has common borders with Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.

Both Chad and Niger are exploiting reserves on their side of the freshwater lake, but activities on the Nigerian side had to stop exploration on their side in November 2014 due to Boko Haram violence. In November last year, the Nigerian military permitted the resumption of exploration, according to Nigeria’s junior oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu.

He described the recent attack as “unfortunate.” </s> Nigeria's military has been ordered to strengthen its response to Boko Haram after 69 people were killed in an ambush earlier this week, the government said on Sunday.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo held emergency talks with top brass to discuss Tuesday's attack, which targeted an oil exploration team in the northeastern state of Borno.

The attack was the worst since February 2 last year, when 58 people were killed in a twin suicide bomb attack at a camp for the displaced in the Borno town of Dikwa.

Osinbajo's spokesman Laolu Akande said the vice-president, standing in for President Muhammadu Buhari who is on indefinite sick leave, called the attack "appalling".

The meeting with commanders on Thursday saw Osinbajo issue "fresh directives... to immediately scale-up their efforts and activities in Borno state... to maintain a strong, effective control of the situation", he added.

The ambush near Magumeri killed 19 soldiers, 33 militia members and 17 civilians, sources told AFP, while three staff members from the University of Maiduguri were kidnapped.

Boko Haram published a video of the trio on Friday night in which they appealed to Osinbajo to meet their abductors' demands.

Analysts have said the attack, apparently by the Islamic State-supported faction headed by Abu Mus'ab al-Barnawi, was an indication of a newly emboldened Boko Haram.

Nigeria's military has long maintained the group, which in 2014 held territory across northeast Nigeria, is all but defeated as a result of its sustained counter-insurgency.

Osinbajo acknowledged that "pockets of terrorists have been launching attacks recently in Borno state".

But he said the government was "on top of the situation (and) will define the end of these atrocities by both winning the war and winning the peace in the northeast".

At least 20,000 people have been killed in the Islamist insurgency since it began in 2009.

The exploration team from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was hunting for crude in the Lake Chad basin as part of efforts to diversify supply and boost reserves.

Osinbajo said the ambush would not prevent the process. </s> An attack by Boko Haram fighters on a funeral in northeast Nigeria left 65 people dead, almost triple the initial toll, a local official said Sunday.

Dozens of more bodies were discovered following the assault Saturday by gunmen on a village close to the regional capital Maiduguri.

"It is 65 people dead and 10 injured," local government chairman Muhammed Bulama said.

Borno is the epicentre of the Boko Haram and related Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) insurgency. The conflict has lasted a decade, during which time the militants have killed thousands and millions have fled from their homes in the region.

Resident Bakura Mallam Amadu said he saw the insurgents gather before opening fire at funeral attendees in a village on Saturday.

Dan Batta, a state emergency official, confirmed the attacks and said authorities had mobilised to support injured civilians.

He declined to comment on the death toll. </s> The death toll from the July 25 ambush of oil workers and staff members of the University of Maiduguri in Borno by Boko Haram has risen with the recovery of more bodies.

According to the Nigerian Army, 21 more bodies of those on the team that was ambushed by the terrorists had been recovered with some persons still missing.

“So far the search and rescue team has recovered additional bodies of 5 soldiers, 11 Civilian JTF and 5 members of the exploration team,” the Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Sani Usman, said in a statement.

He added that six members of the exploration team out of 12 that went out are still missing, while one of the NNPC staff returned to base alive.

Describing the ambush as “as unfortunate and highly regrettable”, Usman said his initial statement that all the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation workers abducted in the ambush had been rescued was wrong.

The statement comes a day after Boko Haram released a video in which three of those abducted during the ambush were shown appealing to the Federal Government to ensure their rescue.

According to the statement, the pursuit team also recovered two of army’s gun trucks and an additional Toyota Buffalo Gun truck from the insurgents.

“In addition, the team also made the following recoveries; four rocket-propelled grenade bombs, four rocket propelled grenade chargers, six AK-47 rifles, one anti-aircraft gun, one general purpose machine gun, one anti-aircraft gun barrel, one rocket-propelled grenade tube, four Dane guns, eight tyres and two Tyre Rims,” it added.

Other items recovered include one pumping machine, two tyre jacks, one super battery, five reflective jackets, three Toyota Hilux vans, four Jerry cans filled with PMS, one Motorola Radio, one Geographical Positioning System (GPS), 21 empty Jerry cans, two shovels and three food coolers.

The troops also recovered 122 rounds of PKM ammunition, 213 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, 1255 Anti-Aircraft Guns ammunition, 4 boxes of API 12.7mm ammunition, 1 AK-47 Rifle Magazine, a Digger, two bows and 13 arrows, 2 LLG bombs, assorted drugs and assorted working tools.

Boko Haram insurgents had on July 25 ambushed troops, including members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, escorting some staff members of the NNPC as well as that of the University of Maiduguri who were carrying out oil exploration activities in Borno Yesu District of Magumeri Local Government Area of Borno state. </s> Boko Haram terrorists have attacked Nigerian troops in Damasak town of Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno State.

A top military source who spoke to SaharaReporters said the attack was carried out on a military base at about 7 pm on Saturday.

The insurgents launched the attack on the Special Forces Base from the Southern part of Damasak while exchanging fire with troops for about an hour.

The online newspaper had on June 14 detailed plans of an impending attack Nigerian soldiers in Damasak, Mallam Fatori, Magumeri, Gubio and Fuchimiram areas of Borno State.

According to the report, the Boko Haram terrorists who are planning the attacks were taking refuge in Fuchimiram village, 6 kilometres West of Kareto Village where they carried out a deadly attack on June 12, 2019.

The army has yet to confirm the development. </s> No fewer than 29 persons were killed in two Borno villages when suspected Boko Haram insurgents attacked the villages on Monday.

In the deadlier of the two attacks, the terrorist group attacked Ngamgam in Mobbar Local Government of Borno State and killed 20 farmers.

Ngamgam is about 50 kilometres, east of Damasak, the secretariat of Mobbar, which is a border town between Nigeria and Niger Republic, another country in the Lake Chad Basin troubled by Boko Haram and its sister organisation, Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).

A security source told THISDAY that: “We have an information that reveals that on 25 June, 2019, suspected members of the deadly terrorist group attacked Ngamgam settlement about 50 kilometres east of Damasak and killed 20 farmers in their farms.”

The source said the killing led to mass exodus of people from the village into Damasak.

In the second attack on Monday, the insurgents were alleged to have attacked a village in Guzamala Local Government Area of the troubled state, the birthplace of Boko Haram, killing nine persons and carting away food stuffs and livestock.

A chieftain of the Civilian Joint Task Force in Borno State, Abba-Aji Kalli, confirmed the attack. </s> The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened an indefinite nationwide strike if its members that were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists are not rescued.

This comes six days after some members of the University of Maiduguri chapter of the union were abducted in an ambush by the terrorists in Borno.

The UNIMAID lecturers were part of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) exploration team in the Lake Chad Basin.were not rescued and called for increased security presence around the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID).

At least 48 people – including five lecturers of UNIMAID, about 15 soldiers, 11 members of the civilian JTF and NNPC workers – were part of the exploration team attacked by Boko Haram insurgents on Tuesday last week.

The oil workers and the security operatives were on their way to Barno Yasu in the Magumeri Local Government Area of Borno State.

On Saturday, the Nigerian Army disclosed that it had recovered the bodies of 21 people who were part of the ambushed exploration team.The army confirmed the figures on

The Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Sani Usman, said an earlier statement claiming that the exploration workers had been rescued was “most regrettable”.

The terrorists had on Friday released a video showing three of those </s> Kano- At least 69 people are known to have died in a Boko Haram ambush of an oil exploration team in northeast Nigeria, as three men kidnapped by the jihadists made a video appeal.

Experts said the attack - Boko Haram's bloodiest this year - underscored the persistent threat it poses, despite government claims the group is a spent force.

"So far the death toll stands at 69," said an aid agency worker involved in the recovery of bodies after the attack in the Magumeri area of Borno state on Tuesday.

The worker, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said 19 soldiers, 33 civilian militia and 17 civilians were killed.

"The last body was recovered Friday in the bush in the Geidam district of neighbouring Yobe state, which is several kilometres from the scene of the ambush," he told AFP.

"It shows the victim, who had gunshot wounds, died after trekking a long distance. There could be more such victims in the bush."

Another source with knowledge of the rescue operation gave the death toll as "70 or more" and also said it was unclear whether all the victims had been accounted for.

The attack hit Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation staff.

"It's a confirmation of the boldness and reassurance that Boko Haram has managed to gain over the last six weeks," said Yan St-Pierre, from the Modern Security Consulting Group.

"They have been attacking more and more military outposts and more military convoys. For them to go after NNPC personnel just shows they don't fear any military reprisal.

"Basically they have managed to gain enough resources, enough material, to plan ambushes targeted towards high value targets."

Video appeal

News of the rising death toll came after Boko Haram published a four-minute video in which three men identified themselves as being from the University of Maiduguri.



The trio were part of a NNPC team on a mission to find commercial quantities of oil in the Lake Chad basin.

"I want to call on the acting president professor Yemi Osinbajo to come to our rescue to meet the demand," one of the men says in the video, which he said was shot on Friday.

He attributed the attack to the Islamic State-supported Boko Haram faction headed by Abu Mus'ab Al-Barnawi, which has vowed to hit military and government targets.

"They have promised us that if their demands are met they will release us immediately to go back to the work we were caught doing," the man added.

There was no indication of where the video was shot but Magumeri is some 50km by road northwest of Maiduguri.

University of Maiduguri spokesperdson Danjuma Gambo confirmed the identities of the three kidnapped men in the video.

"They are our staff but one more is yet to be accounted for," he told AFP.

Five members of staff from the university - two lecturers, two technologists and a driver - were killed, vice-chancellor Ibrahim Njodi said on Friday.

He told reporters the university had been hesitant to send staff with the NNPC team but had been assured about security.

Nigeria is searching for oil in the northeast to try to reduce its reliance on supplies from the Niger delta, where militant attacks have slashed production.

Suicide bombings

Kidnapping has been a feature of the Boko Haram insurgency, which has killed at least 20 000, displaced more than 2.6 million and left millions of others on the brink of famine.

Thousands of women and girls have been seized, to be married off to fighters, used as sex slaves or suicide bombers, while men and boys have been made to fight in the Islamist ranks.

The al-Barnawi faction differs from fighters loyal to Boko Haram's long-time leader Abubakar Shekau in that it disagrees with the indiscriminate targeting of civilians.

On Friday, two suicide bombers struck a camp for displaced people in Dikwa, 90km east of Maiduguri, killing five.

Civilian militia member Babakura Kolo said the men disguised themselves as traders wanting to buy grain.

In Bama, 70km southeast of Maiduguri, three young female suicide bombers were killed when their explosives detonated prematurely on Thursday, he added.

"A fourth bomber, an 11-year-old girl, was too frightened to pull the trigger. She succeeded in removing her vest and sneaked into town. She was found and taken into custody," he said. </s> The death toll from last Friday’s oil pipeline explosion in two Abia communities in Osisioma Local Government Area of the state has risen to 24, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Anthony Ogbizi, has said. Mr Benito Eze, the state Commander of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, confirmed to newsmen on Friday that 19 persons, including a nursing mother, died on the spot.

 Briefing newsmen in Umuahia last Saturday after visiting the scene of the explosion, Ogbizi said that the number of deaths had risen to 24. Explosion rocks Abia “When we visited the two communities on Saturday, we were informed that 14 people were reported dead at Umuimo village, while 10 died at Umuaduru.

 “Some of the victims who sustained various degrees of burns were said to be asleep when the incident occurred.

 “They were said to have been taken to nearby hospitals and traditional medicine homes for treatment,” he said. The police boss said that management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aba depot blamed the explosion on a spillage from a pipeline that was undergoing maintenance.

 He said: “According to the information we obtained from the NNPC depot in Aba, the spillage occurred on a pipeline that conveys product from Aba depot that was undergoing maintenance.” He said that the incident was being investigated by the command in conjunction with the other security agencies in the state to determine the possible cause.

 Meanwhile, two Nigerian soldiers were killed and nine others wounded in two separate mine blasts in the northeast where troops are battling Boko Haram extremists, military and militia sources said yesterday. The two incidents occurred last Saturday, “We lost two soldiers in the incidents. Nine others and three civilian vigilantes were injured”, said the officer who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

 Troops rescue 73 hostages, kill 7 Boko Haram terrorists in Borno In the first incident, troops on foot patrol stepped on a mine around Kumshe village, near the border with Cameroon.

 “Two soldiers were killed in the explosion,” a member of a civilian militia assisting in the fight against the jihadists, told AFP.

 Hours later a military patrol hit a mine planted on a road between the towns of Dikwa and Marte, about 140 kilometres away.

 Nine soldiers were wounded as well as three from the civilian militia group, the officer said. Boko Haram has intensified attacks on military targets in Borno and neighbouring Yobe state in recent months. The nine-year jihadist conflict which has spilled into Niger, Cameroon and Chad, has killed 27,000 people and left some 1.8 million homeless in Nigeria alone.
Boko Haram insurgents ambush an oil exploration team in the Magumeri area of Borno State, Nigeria, killing at least 69 people.