Nigeria’s Navy says two recent operations around Lake Chad killed 34 people it described as fighters, with the tally still provisional as military assessments continue in an area where insurgent groups operate.
The Navy said its Marines and soldiers from the Nigerian Army’s 403 Amphibious Brigade conducted the Oct. 28 operation under Operation Hadin Kai. An initial count of eight deaths was revised to 28 after a later review, according to the Navy.
Two days later, Navy Marines struck a location at Dumba that the service identified as a Boko Haram enclave. The Navy said intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions came before the strike; its preliminary estimate put deaths at about six, with several people injured. It combined that estimate with the Oct. 28 count for a reported total of 34.
Navy Capt. Abiodun Folorunsho, the director of naval information, said the figures remained “subject to further verification” as operational reviews continued. The Navy described those targeted on Oct. 28 as “terrorist elements”; Premium Times reported that people killed in that operation were suspected Boko Haram members.
Premium Times has described Lake Chad’s islands as positions held by Boko Haram and rival Islamic State West Africa Province. The outlet reported that Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province impose payments on fishermen active around the islands and use the territory to escape military operations.
The outlet also linked the security burden to reduced naval and river patrols in the region. It reported that difficulties facing the Multinational Joint Task Force had left Nigerian forces with more responsibility for security.
