Defense minister Aliyu Gusau has decorated about 60 soldiers injured in the recent clashes with Boko Haram with Purple Heart medals in appreciation of their gallantry during a morale-boosting visit to them at the military hospital in Kaduna. In a surprise visit designed to lift the spirits of the soldiers who have scored several very important victories over the terrorist sect recently, the minister, a retired general himself, personally pinned the medals on their chests.
During the visit to the soldiers at the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in, Kaduna, Lt General Gusau also conveyed a message of goodwill and appreciation from President Goodluck Jonathan. General Gusau, who was accompanied by the chief of defence staff, service chiefs and other senior military officers, visited the wards in the military hospital and chatted with several soldiers as they lay in their beds. Many among them had shown signs of recovery and told the minister that they would be prepared to return to battlefield. Very few of the soldiers who had serious injuries, may be flown overseas for further medical attention. Lt General Kenneth Minimah, the chief of army staff, used the opportunity to deny the rumour that the Boko Haram sect had more sophisticated weapons than the Nigerian Army. He added: “The army is more sophisticated in terms of weapons and ammunition and the insurgents are not more sophisticated. Do they have ships, helicopters and aircraft? Even what they have are stolen, so they cannot be more sophisticated.” Over the last two weeks, the Nigerian Army has secured several major victories over Boko Haram, defeating the insurgents in pitched battles, thus turning the tide of the conflict. After the recent battle in Kodunga, the army recovered all sorts of sophisticated weapons from the terrorist sect, including a T-55 tank, surface-to-air missiles, multi-purpose machine guns, rocket launchers, armoured personnel carriers, assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades.
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