The Nigerian Army has foiled an attack by some members of the Boko Haram terrorist group in Gombe State, North-East Nigeria, recovering a smart card reader belonging to the Independent National Electoral Commision (INEC) and also killing three of the militants.

While parading the corpses of the insurgents before reporters at the army barracks in Gombe, the state capital, the spokesperson of the 301 Artillery regiment, said one of the insurgents was captured alive after a gun battle in Dukku Local Government Area of the state.

Other items recovered from the Boko Haram insurgents, according to him, include: a Hilux van and three boxes of assorted ammunition among other items.

“The success was recorded in the early hours of Monday, (00:30 GMT) when the gunmen attempted to attack a military check point at Dukku but our men overpowered them,” the spokesman, who requested not to be mentioned, said.

While thanking the public for the cooperation given the security operatives, he urged the general public to remain calm, as the military was ready to protect lives and property of people of the state and beyond.

“We thank the general public for cooperating with us. If we continue to get useful information from the public, we will wipe out any person or group that tries to bridge the peace of Gombe and Nigeria at large,” the military official emphasised.

Suspected members of the Boko Haram militants had on Saturday attacked three polling stations in Dukku and Nafada Local Government Areas of Gombe State, killing two INEC ad-hoc staff and destroyed some election materials.

•Text courtesy of Channels TV. Photo shows card reader.

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