Toks David, Lagos

Reports coming in indicate that a commander of the Nigerian Army Strike Force Group Lt. Col. Mamudu has been killed by Boko Haram forces in Sambisa forest, Borno state.

Lt. Col. Mamudu is said to have been killed Thursday by an improvised explosive device (IED) lodged in a vehicle.

The soldier, from Kogi state, has been described as a “fearless fighter”.

According to SaharaReporters, a young Naval officer on patrol with Operation DEEP PUNCH II – the counterterrorism offensive against Boko Haram terror forces – was also killed in the ambush.

Mamudu, Defence HQ says, was on his second deployment to the northeast, having served in Borno in 2015. He was an officer of the Army’s Department of Training and Operations (DATOPS) before he died, the Army says.