TheCable

The Nigeria army says it has rescued all kidnapped oil workers.

On Tuesday, some suspected Boko Haram insurgents ambushed the convoy of the oil workers around Jilli and Borno yesu villages at Magumeri local government area of Borno state

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had told TheCable that 10 members of the contingent were kidnapped. Though it said they were not its regular staff, but a team of geologists from the University of Maiduguri who were commissioned to explore oil in Lake Chad.

President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the NNPC to begin the search for oil in the region, which is believed to have huge deposits of the resource. The NNPC hired  some indigenous hands for the task.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Sani Usman, army spokesman, said troops rescued all the “NNPC staff” and recovered the bodies of slain soldiers.

He also said some of the vehicles taken from the contingent were recovered.

‎”So far, they have rescued all the NNPC staff and recovered the corpses of the officer, eight soldiers and a civilian have who have been evacuated to 7 division medical services and hospital,” he said.

“The team recovered four vehicles one of which includes a gun truck mounted with an anti-aircraft gun, two white Hilux taken away from NNPC staff and one blue Hilux belonging to CJTF. The team also recovered large quantities of arms and ammunition, several spare tyres, many jerry cans of containing petroleum, oil and lubricant, assorted drugs, improvised explosive device (IED) making materials, reflective jackets and a Motorola handheld radio, among others. The team also neutralised many of the terrorists. The troops are not relenting in the pursuit, search and rescue effort.”