Some 83 Nigerian soldiers are missing in action since Boko Haram Islamic extremists attacked a remote military base in the northeast, senior army officers say.
The soldiers were unable to fight back and fled because Boko Haram had superior firing power, the officers told The Associated Press.
Morale also was low among the troops because they were being rationed to one meal a day and their allowances were being pilfered by their commanders, the officers said.
Army spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman reported last week that “some” soldiers were missing and 13 wounded when the insurgents on October 17 attacked their base in Gashigar village, on the border with Niger.
Dozens of fleeing troops jumped into the Niger River and 22 were pulled from the water by soldiers from that neighbouring country, officers said.
Many soldiers are feared to have drowned, they said.
President Muhammadu Buhari promised to better arm Nigeria’s military when he was elected in March 2015, blaming corruption for the deaths of thousands including soldiers in the 7-year-old Islamic insurgency that has killed more than 20,000 people.
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