TheCable

Chris Olukolade, director of defence information, says the camps of Boko Haram insurgents raided with air strikes by the Chadian military are located in Niger – and not Nigeria as widely believed.

Olukolade said the clarification became necessary in order to prevent “unnecessary sensationalism from any quarter”, noting that troops of both countries were working together to end insurgency.

“The places reported to have been struck by the Chadians are most likely to be in Niger Republic and not Nigeria as widely reported in the international media,” he said in a statement.

“The fact is that the Nigerian air force surveillance mission identified targets tagged as Camp 6 around Bosso town, which is not within Nigeria’s territory and alerted the partners accordingly.

“Although the terms of the multilateral and bilateral understanding with partners in the war against terror allow some degree of hot pursuit against the terrorists, the territory of Nigeria has not been violated as insinuated in the reports circulated in some foreign media.

“The Nigerian military will continue to cooperate with partners in the mission to exterminate or contain terrorists strictly in conformity with existing terms of the concept of operation at strategic, operational or tactical levels.

“It is however important that issues are accurately reported while avoiding misleading or unnecessary sensationalism from any quarter.”

The Chadian military had earlier claimed that the camps targeted were situated in the country, adding that the operation was in retaliation of the attack of the insurgents in N’Djamena, capital of its country, on Monday.

More than 20 people died in the attack.