The Brigade Commander, M Uba, earlier declared safe by the Nigerian Army after fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) ambushed his team along the Damboa-Biu axis in Borno State, has now been reported dead.
The terror group, ISWAP, has announced that it captured Mr Uba and killed him. The group also shared photos to prove its criminal act.
PRNigeria, a news platform close to security agencies, also confirmed that the general was kidnapped and killed after military authorities thought he was safe after surviving the initial ambush.
On Sunday, citing a HumAngle story, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Uba was kidnapped after ISWAP terrorists ambushed his team alongside operatives of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) on Friday night.
The army, however, denied that he was kidnapped and said he was safe after soldiers successfully repelled the ambush.
In a statement, army spokesperson Appolonia Anele, a lieutenant colonel, confirmed the ambush against the troops of 25 Task Force Brigade, which Mr Uba was leading.
She said the troops came under “sudden and heavy insurgents fire” while returning from a routine patrol around the fringes of the Sambisa Forest.
Describing the news of Mr Uba’s abduction as a “fake narrative”, the army said four personnel, two soldiers and two members of a vigilante group, CJTF, were killed during the attack.
ISWAP claims it executed Mr Uba
In an Arabic statement published in its propaganda newsletter magazine, Amaq, ISWAP said it had captured Mr Uba and executed him after he was interrogated.
The 2016 breakaway faction of Boko Haram attached a picture collage of Mr Uba, showing when he was in office and when he was “captured.”
“A picture of the brigade commander from inside his office and a picture of him after he was captured by the Islamic State,” the group captioned the picture.
“Islamic State fighters overthrew a senior officer in the Nigerian army after a successful ambush on a military force in Borno…,” the group said, adding that the commander was captured after “he fled” from the Wajiroko attack.
ISWAP said as soon as it received intel that Mr Uba had escaped, a unit of fighters “set out to search for him, and succeeded in capturing him on Saturday, near a village, after he was wounded.”
The purported picture of his capture shows Mr Uba’s camouflage stained with blood around his legs.
ISWAP said it interrogated Mr Uba before killing him on the spot.
The terror group further taunted the Nigerian Army, describing its statement as an “outright lie and a miserable security failure.”
Rescued and stranded?
PRNigeria reports that Mr Uba earlier confirmed his safety to his superiors after an aerial operation that helped him escape the ISWAP attack.
But the event took a tragic turn.
Reports of his location compelled the terrorists to track him down, leading to his capture and subsequent summary execution after an interrogation, the platform reported.
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Mr Uba’s killings, according to experts, marked the first time the insurgents would kill an officer with such a high rank.
His killing was blamed on insecure military communications within the north-east theatre, PRNigeria reported.
The army has yet to speak on the death of the general. Calls and a message sent to the army spokesperson, Ms Anele, were not responded to at the time of this report.
