Commander of the counter-insurgency operations in the North-East, also called Operation Lafiya Dole, Leo Irabor, has revealed that a first cousin to the Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonisakin was killed in a recent operation against the Boko Haram insurgency.

Irabor made the revelation during a press conference on recent operations of his command in Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital, saying that nobody is left out in the sacrifice to rid the nation of terrorism.

He said that some soldiers and volunteer youth vigilante group, civilian JTF were still missing in the recent operations against the insurgents.

“I wish to use this medium to indicate that high prices are being paid by officers and soldiers of Operation Lafiya Dole. Our hearts go out to all the families of our colleagues who have paid the supreme price,” he said.

He pledged that the troops would liberate the entire Northeast from the claws of terrorism and insurgency “as our respect to the heroic efforts of these departed colleagues.”

Irabor commiserated with the Chief of Defence Staff over the loss of his cousin in the last operation in Kargarwa, insisting that in the ongoing war against terrorism, every soldier and officer are involved and willing to sacrifice for peace to return to the country.

The army commander narrated that on July 12, “our troops at Kargarwa came under Boko Haram terrorist attack as they consolidate their hold on the location,

“The troops fought gallantly killing 25 Boko Haram terrorists and capturing two RPG tubes, a 60mm mortal tube, two MGs, twelve AK47 riffles, a LMG.”

“The following day, additional three bodies of Boko Haram terrorists were discovered along with other Boko Haram terrorist equipment. Sadly, however, we lost an officer (the CDS’s cousin) and a soldier while 11 others were wounded,

All the wounded have been stabilized with five of them already returned to the front lines after treatment,” he said.