Salkida describes invasion of Yobe military base as deadliest in anti-Boko Haram war

Ahmed Salkida, an investigative journalist, says never in the history of the war against insurgency has the military recorded the kind of loss it did on Saturday when insurgents invaded a military base in Yobe state.

The militants, dressed in military apparel and armed with sophisticated weapons, wreaked havoc on the military facility in Jilli, a village in Yobe.

Over 600 soldiers are still missing after the attack, according to Daily Trust.

The newspaper quoted a source as saying the base had about 750 troops manning it before the invasion.

The facility was established to contain the movement of Boko Haram insurgents along the Chad Basin.

In a tweet on Thursday, Salkida said the nation ought to mourn the tragedy that soldiers suffered.

“There should be a national mourning. Never before in the #LakeChad crisis has the military been caught on the wrong footing as is evident in latest #ISWAP attack in Jilli. There’s a grave sense of despair among officers and men. The toll is staggering, says multiple sources,” he wrote.

There should be a national mourning. Never before in the #LakeChad crisis has the military been caught on the wrong footing as is evident in latest #ISWAP attack in Jilli. There's a grave sense of despair among officers and men. The toll is staggering, say multiple sources.

— Ahmad Salkida (@A_Salkida) July 18, 2018

The siege on Jilli came after an ambush of a military convoy by alleged Boko Haram fighters in Borno state left some military operatives and vigilantes dead.