There are indications that the Nineteen Soldiers are missing after they were ambushed by the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, between Gonnori and Gombe in north-east of Nigeria.
The soldiers went missing after their base in Gombe State was attacked, on December 12, 2016, as an officer said, “Our soldiers were returning to their base when they fell into an ambush by the terrorists”.
“Currently there are three officers and 16 soldiers missing. 16 other soldiers and three civilian militia helping the army fight Boko Haram were also wounded,”the officer added.
One of those missing, Peter Ossai was a private in the Army Infantry who had spent three years and four months in the army,serving in Gombe state before this incident.
Ossai was in Gombe state between 2015 and 2016 and was in the company of other troops at the camp, when Boko Haram attacked, killed many and abducted others.
Of those who were captured, tortured and detained by the group, Ossai and others who managed to escape have neither been seen nor heard of.
Ossai had trained for two weeks at Ekenwan Barracks, Benin City, Edo state and later at Zaria, Kaduna state for six months before signing the contract as a soldier with number 2013NA/70/0624. He thereafter partook in several assignments at Kano, Benin, Delta, Port-Harcourt, Sokoto and Jos.
He was recalled back to Sokoto from where he was sent on other assignments in Kano and Kaduna, before he was finally deployed to Gombe state where he was serving under Captain Hamza.
The Boko Haram had killed many soldiers, according to official sources and took away heavy weapons including a truck with an anti-aircraft missile.
The north-eastern Nigeria is the center of Boko Haram attacks killing at least 20,000 people and rendering 2.6 million people homeless since 2009.
