Boko Haram: Families of slain soldiers get 12 Million Naira

Borno State government has issued a total of N12 million cheques to families of officers and men of the Nigerian Army killed by members of the Boko Haram in Maiduguri, recently.

One Captain and 11 soldiers from the 174 Battalion, Odogunyan, Ikorodu, Lagos State, were on Sunday, August 4, 2013, ambushed and killed while on special operations in the troubled area. A cheque of N1 million was given to each of the 12 dead soldiers.

The cheques presentation was performed on behalf of Borno State governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, by the General Officer Commanding, GOC, 81 Division, Nigerian Army, Major-General Abel Obi Umahi, at the command’s headquarters on Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

General Umahi, who conveyed the condolences of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, to the families of the deceased, however, said that the money given to the families was for the wives and children of the deceased soldiers.

In the words of Gen. Umahi; “The business of soldiering is a risky one. It is a commitment to lay down our lives so that the rest of Nigeria could live as a country; so that Nigeria can progress.

“Though this money would not be enough, but it is a kind gesture from the Borno State government where the soldiers died in active service.”