The Nigerian Army on Thursday denied that 105 of its men are missing, saying the report was an imagination of people sympathetic to Boko Haram insurgents.

Premium Times had exclusively reported that at least 105 soldiers were missing after troops from 157 Battalion came under heavy attack from Boko Haram members on Wednesday at Gulumbali in Borno State, with the insurgents seizing weapons from soldiers in the process.

However, in a statement issued by Tukur Gusau, a Colonel and media coordinator of Operation Lafiya Dole, the army admitted that its men were attacked but denied that they were overrun or that any soldiers are missing.

“Although the location of 157 Battalion was attacked last Wednesday and was subsequently repelled by the gallant troops of the Unit, the Commanding Officer of the Unit is in contact with his Brigade Commander,” the statement said.

“The Theatre Command wants to state clearly that the story is a fabrication from the imagination of those sympathetic to Boko Haram ways of life.”

The army added that it was normal in military operations for there to be casualties but said the troops only sustained minor injuries, which were not from gunshots.

However, military sources in Maiduguri have confirmed to www.icirnigeria.org that soldiers were missing and that the number might even be more than what has been quoted in the media.

“Did you expect the army to admit that soldiers are missing? Don’t you know it would send panic to the public?” the source said.