By Sabiu Abdullahi
Fresh details have confirmed that ISWAP terrorists assassinated Brigadier General Yu Uba during an attack in Borno State, even though the Nigerian Army initially rejected reports about his capture.
Uba was travelling in a convoy with troops and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force near Sabon Gari in Damboa Local Government Area on Friday when insurgents launched a heavy assault at about 5 pm.
Two soldiers and two CJTF operatives were killed in the ambush.
Shortly after the incident, the army dismissed early reports about the abduction. One of those reports was published by HumAngle.
On Saturday, Appolonis Anele, director of army public relations, issued a formal rebuttal.
His statement said in part, “The Army Headquarters also wishes to debunk the fake narrative going round some media platforms online alleging the abduction of the Brigade Commander. The general public is hereby advised to disregard the fake news regarding the incident while praying for the continuous success of our gallant service men and women.”
Following this statement, several online pages circulated claims that the senior officer had safely returned to base.
That narrative shifted on Monday when ISWAP released a photo of Uba in their custody and declared that they had killed him afterwards.
Sources within the military told FIJ that the image was genuine.
They explained that the denial issued on Saturday was premature.
One of the insiders said, “Uba had taken videos to show he was alive and on his way back from the ambush. However, he never made it. These videos were what we relied on originally, but nobody waited to see him first before going to discredit.”
Another source confirmed that insurgents captured the senior officer only minutes after the initial attack.
Uba is now the highest-ranking Nigerian military officer ever taken by ISWAP since the group’s emergence.