The Special Forces have arrested 31 fighters of the Boko Haram sect, who were attempting to flee the country through Taraba and Gumti in Adamawa State into Cameroun.
The Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, said in an electronic mail yesterday that one of those arrested was a mercenary claiming to be a citizen Chad and Burkina Faso.
Olukolade also said 11 insurgents were also killed during shootouts with troops in the border communities.
He said the terrorists, who were involved in the encounter with the Special Forces, were trapped and were forced out of their hideout by hunger.
According to the Defence spokesman, the Special Forces arrested some of the insurgents who left one of the camps in the forest took the security men to similar camps in the area.
He said the Special Forces killed seven of the insurgents during a fierce gun battle in one of the camps.
He added that four other insurgents were killed in another battle with troops at Gombi.
Olukolade said several categories of high caliber weapons, several Improvised Explosive Devices and over seventy motorcycles were recovered from the insurgents in the operations.
He said, “A group of terrorists attempting to escape into Cameroon through Taraba and Gumti in Adamawa State have come under heavy fire from troops on patrol of the area in the ongoing counter-terrorism campaign. The terrorists who had been trapped as a result of the ongoing offensive  by troops along the borders were given out when some of them could no longer bear the hunger in their make shift camps in the forest.
“Those who were apprehended led troops to other hideouts where fierce fighting ensued. Seven terrorists died, while a large number of Improvised Explosive Devices and rifles were recovered including over seventy motorcycles. Similar encounter in Gombi also led to the death of four other terrorists.