The Nigerian Army spokesman Colonel Sagir Musa has denied reports that nine soldiers were killed by Islamist sect Boko Haram on Tuesday.
Reports had claimed that the said nine soldiers were killed in an attack on a military base in the northeast state of Borno where 27 went missing.
“We repelled the attack,” Colonel Sagir Musa said. He said he was not aware of any soldiers being killed or having gone missing.
Islamist militants killed nine Nigerian soldiers in an attack on a military base in the northeast of the country, three soldiers and an official from a security agency told Reuters on Wednesday.
A decade-long insurgency in the northeast, started by Islamist group Boko Haram in 2009, has claimed more than 30,000 lives.
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A breakaway faction that pledges allegiance to Islamic State has become the dominant group in the insurgency, carrying out attacks on military bases over the past year.
The soldiers and security officer, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, said Islamist militants attacked troops on Tuesday at a military base in Gudumbali – a town in Borno, the state worst hit by the insurgency.
