At least 100 bodies of suspected Boko Haram gunmen were counted after a deadly nocturnal attack on a military formation left seven soldiers dead in Goniri village of Yobe State, military officials said.

Spokesman of the Nigerian Army, Col Sani Usman, described the death of the seven soldiers as paying the supreme price, even as he said the incident was a major victory for the troops as all the terrorists were killed.

Usman also stated in a statement that the attack (at about 3am) was supposed to be a desperate assault by the depleting terrorists to embarrass the army and give a false impression of still being in force.

He said, “The fleeing Boko Haram terrorists in a great sign of desperation and to create an impression that they remain relevant, at the early hours of today made a futile attempt on 120 Task Force Battalion troops located at Goniri, Yobe State.”

“During the encounter, the troops recovered sizeable arms, ammunition and other equipment from the terrorists. These include 1 General Purpose Machine Gun, 2 Rocket Propelled Grenades, 9 AK-47 rifles and Belted rounds of 7.62 (NATO) ammunition. Others were various wires used for Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), 7 Primed IEDs, different types of Spanners and a Torchlight.