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Nigerian Authorities Pay Tribute to Slain Soldiers, Support Families

Timothy Obiezu

   ABUJA -- Nigerian authorities have been battling the Islamist militant
   group, Boko Haram, for a decade in a conflict that has cost the lives
   of an estimated 35,000 people. In a ceremony over the weekend, Nigeria
   marked Armed Forces Day by remembering the soldiers killed in the
   battle against the insurgency.

   The special remembrance event for troops took place in the Nigerian
   capital, and with smaller ceremonies in states like Borno, Adamawa and
   Yola -- the epicenters of Nigeria's decade-long war against the Boko
   Haram insurgency.

   During the event in Abuja, about 200 widows of fallen soldiers and
   their relatives received food and financial support.

   Like many of the women, Olubunmi Adetunji's husband, a soldier, was
   killed while fighting Boko Haram in Maiduguri in April 2016. Since
   then, the defense ministry has been helping her care for their four
   children.

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