Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters this afternoon dismissed media reports which claim that over 150 people from Kukuwa-Gari village were shot dead by Boko Haram gunmen in the north-eastern state of Yobe while many others fleeing from the gunmen drowned in Yobe River in the mid-afternoon yesterday. “The military wishes to state that the story is not true, utterly scurrilous and very misleading,” Acting Director Defence Information, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, said in the statement.

News Express was not among the media outlets that published the story.

The truth,according to Col. Abubakar, is that the military got an intelligence report concerning a planned attack by Boko Haram on Kukuwa-Gari village in Yobe State. “Following the tip-off, troops and civilian JTF laid ambush between Kukuwatashi and Kukuwa-Gari villages. The insurgents ran into them and a gun-battle ensued in which four Boko Haram members and one civilian JTF lost their lives. At the end of the encounter, 2 x AK 47 rifles and 2 x motorcycles used by the Boko Haram terrorists were recovered from them,” the Defence Spokesman said.

He implored the media “to always seek clarification of stories before going to press as most of these unsubstantiated reports tend to embolden or encourage the terrorists to believe they are invincible, thus instilling perpetual fear in the minds of the citizens, especially, those in the contested areas of the North East.”

“The military is doing all within its power to protect lives and property of Nigerians in any part of the country and thus, solicits cooperation and understanding of the media to be partners in progress in this noble task,” Col. Abubakar stated.

•Photo shows Colonel Rabe Abubakar.