The Nigeria Army has apologised for its earlier statement that it had rescued all the members of the oil exploration team ambushed by Boko Haram in Maiduguri on Tuesday.

Sani Usman, Spokesman of the Army, gave the apology through a statement issued on Sunday.

He said that 21 additional bodies and various calibres of weapons were recovered in another rescue operation.

“So far the search and rescue team has recovered additional bodies of five soldiers, 11 members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) and five members of the exploration team,” Usman wrote.

“Contrary to reports in some media, six out of the 12 members of the exploration team that went out are still missing, while one of the NNPC staff returned to base alive.

“The incident of 25th July 2017, where Boko Haram insurgents ambushed our troops including members of the CJTF) escorting some staff of the NNPC as well as that of University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) on oil exploration in Yesu District of Magumeri Local Government Area of the state, is unfortunate and highly regrettable.

“Most regrettable also is my earlier release on the said incident about the rescue of all NNPC Staff. The error in the statement was not deliberate.”

It will be recalled that the Nigerian Army had earlier claimed to have rescued all the abducted university’s personnel.

“Search and rescue is still ongoing to secure the safe return of the remaining civilians,” he said. “The Nigerian Army condoles with the families of all that lost their loved ones in this unfortunate incident.”

Usman said the weapons recovered from the insurgents include three gun trucks belonging to the Army, “four Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG), four RPG chargers, six AK-47 rifles, one Anti-Aircraft Gun, one General Purpose Machine Gun, one Anti-Aircraft Gun Barrel, one RPG tube, four dane guns, eight tyres and two rims.”

Others include “one pumping machine gun, two tyre jacks, one super battery, five reflective jackets, three Toyota Hilux, four jerry cans filled with petrol, one Motorola radio, one Geographical Positioning System (GPS), 21 empty jerry cans, two shovels and three food coolers.

“Troops also recovered 122 rounds of PKM ammunition, 213 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, 1255 Anti-Aircraft Guns ammunition, four boxes of API 12.7mm ammunition, one AK-47 Rifle Magazine, a digger, two bows and 13 Arrows, two LLG bombs, assorted drugs and working tools”.

He urged the general public to volunteer “valuable information that could help in the search and rescue operation”.