Kayode ShopekanNIGERIAN Army said it has seized 14 tonnes of fertiliser that Boko Haram insurgents had planned to turn into roadside bombs.
Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.
Nwachukwu said the troops seized 281 bags of urea, each weighing 50kg, at two locations in Borno and Yobe states.
He added that the troops had burst a urea fertiliser syndicate that supplied the insurgents with materials to make Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
The army spokesperson said the insurgents were “desperately acquiring IED materials to make explosive devices with which to unleash terror on innocent civilians, in a bid to remain relevant and present a posture of potency.”
Boko Haram has killed hundreds of people in bombings during its 12-year war against the armed forces in northeast Nigeria, a conflict that has spilt over into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon and caused an estimated 350,000 deaths.
Boko Haram, whose leader Abubakar Shekau died in May, has been in a conflict with splinter group-turned-rival, the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The Nigerian army said last week that close to 6,000 insurgents had surrendered in recent weeks.
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