Army keeps mum on reported killing of another Lt. Colonel

Mum is the word a day after news filtered out that another Nigerian Army top brass, one Lt. Col. B.U Umar, was ambushed and killed by members of the terrorist group, Boko Haram.

Umar, said to be the Commanding Officer of 114 TF battalion of the Nigerian Army, was shot dead on Tuesday morning between Bita and Piridang while leading his troop to Yola in Adamawa State. Eight other soldiers were reportedly injured in the incident.

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The alleged killing of Colonel Umar is yet unconfirmed 24 hours after the news broke. Initial clarifications sought from the office of Army spokesman, Sani Usman, as to what may have transpired provided no clues as the officer said his office was still investigating the claims.

Lately, the Nigeria Army has had to contend with the loss very high profile officers, prominent among whom is Lieutenant Colonel, Muhammed Abu-Ali, whose death occurred about a week ago. Official reports also admitted that four other soldiers died in that attack.

The worrisome development led a section of the Nigerian media to speculate that the Boko Haram terror group may have profited from the ransom paid by the Nigerian government for the release of 21 Chibok girls. This claim has since been denied by the Nigerian military.

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