The Army Battalion in charge of Special Military Operations in Mubi has confirmed killing two Boko Haram kingpins. This was just as it recovered a large cache of weapons from suspected Boko Haram members.

Commanding Officer and head of Mubi Special Military Operations, Lt Col. Beyidi Gurama Martins disclosed this at a Press Conference in the military formation, yesterday.

The command gave the names of the two Boko Haram kingpins killed as Mallam Abubakar  Zakariya and Mallam Muhammad Bama. They had been on the wanted list with the sum of N10m and N20m put on their heads as ransom.

In the meantime, the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, yesterday lamented that the persistent attacks of the Boko Haram sect, was hindering the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The command said that the recovered arms include 485 live ammunition, four AK 47 assault rifles, four Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), 19 magazines, three Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and other locally made weapons.

The battalion commander also paraded five suspected members of Boko Haram who carried out daylight robbery on one of the Bureau de Change outfits operating in the town in which millions of Naira belonging to the operators were allegedly carted away.

“On July 30, 2013 suspected members of Boko Haram sect carried out a daylight robbery were they carted away with the sum N3m and 5.4 million Cameroun Francs,” he said.

Martins said before the commencement of military operations in Mubi, insurgents had had a field day striking, maiming and killing civilians at will which informed the Federal Government’s resolve to float the special military operation.

He said that they have intensified their operations towards the border towns and have deeply engaged in the provision of free medicare to resident of the areas of their operations in order to deepen communal harmony for sustained cooperation.

The Commanding Officer attributed the success of the military operations to the cooperation being received by the civil society in the area of intelligence regarding the activities and movements of the insurgents.

Highlight of the occasion was the handing over of the recovered money to the chairman of the Mubi Bureau de Change, Alhaji Muhammadu Nuru.

The Mubi Chairman of Bureau de Change operators thanked the battalion for its discipline and service to fatherland.

Maku, while briefing newsmen after presenting the score card of his ministry to leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said only the PDP could have ensured the emergence of an unbiased Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under Prof. Attahiru Jega.

On the impact of the Boko Haram sect, he said “don’t blame President Jonathan on the violence in the country. Jonathan inherited a politically motivated violence and he has done what many could not do in many years.

Maku who said Jonathan has done what many have failed to do in the past and cited the revolution in the rail transport system, the increase in GDP of 7 per cent, the revolution in the Agric and power sectors, the micro economic transformation, aviation transformation as some of the major achievements in this administration.

He warned stakeholders, who are outside the government not to fan the ember of discouragement, but should help the government to achieve its mandate.