A grim week for Operation Hadin Kai worsened on April 12 when a roadside bomb claimed the lives of Col. I.A. Mohammed and seven other soldiers.
Persecondnews reported that on Friday, April 10, the Brigade Commander of the 29 Task Force, Brigadier-General Oseini Braimah, was killed alongside 17 soldiers during a fierce encounter in Benisheikh.
The high-ranking officer, who headed the 242 Battalion in Monguno, was responding to an urgent distress call from a base under siege when the tragedy struck.
While the base successfully fended off the suspected terrorists, Colonel Mohammed’s vehicle hit a buried explosive during his tactical advancement.
He was reportedly traveling to the site to boost the morale of his personnel and oversee the aftermath of the skirmish.
Confirming the loss, JTF spokesperson Lt. Col. Sani Uba noted the Colonel died in the “highest traditions of military leadership,” marking another painful chapter in the campaign against Northeast insurgency.
“The Commanding Officer, while courageously proceeding to the troops’ location to personally assess the situation, encountered an IED which severely affected his vehicle, leading to his death alongside six other gallant personnel,” Uba stated.
The military maintained that the “Tango” terrorist attack on the specific location, designated Charlie 13, was successfully neutralized before the Colonel arrived, but that the lingering threat of buried explosives proved fatal.
The loss of Colonel Mohammed comes as a staggering second hit to the Nigerian Army’s command structure in Borno State within just 72 hours.
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