28 July, 2017
Mr Kachikwu, who declined to confirm actual number of casualty, disclosed that the military was still collating data concerning the attack.
The team was returning to Maiduguri after conducting a geological study of part of the Lake Chad Basin in preparation for re-entry for seismic activities.
But investigations revealed that five lecturers from the University of Maiduguri in the exploration team were killed.
"We still have other missing personal", he added.
Sixteen members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) were also killed, Bunu Bakar, secretary of the armed vigilante group, told Reuters.
It underscored the persistent threat posed by Boko Haram fighters, despite government claims they were a spent force, and also the risks associated with the hunt for crude in the volatile Lake Chad basin.
A military spokesman did not reply to phone calls and text messages requesting comment.
On July 25, suspected Boko Haram terrorists had attacked the convoy of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) workers involved in Gubio Local Government Area of Borno State.
"We have heard but can not confirm reports that there has been some rescue; those details we are still discussing with military authorities".
Telecommunications and other infrastructure have been severely damaged or destroyed in the conflict, which has left at least 20,000 dead and more than 2.6 million homeless since 2009. It is aiming to reduce its reliance on the southern Niger Delta energy hub, which previous year was hit by militant attacks on oil facilities.
There has been no serious suggestion that Boko Haram is motivated by a desire to control oil in northeast Nigeria.
But insurgents have launched attacks with renewed zeal in the past few months.
The latest attack brought the death toll in Maiduguri and its environs since early June to at least 92.
