IT was a harvest of deaths in Yobe and Borno states between Thursday and Friday morning as Boko Haram insurgents engaged the military in an unprecedented all-out war that resulted in the death of scores of insurgents, policemen, soldiers and civilians.
While the military announced the killing of 74 insurgents in Borno it said 21 other members of the deadly sect were killed in an all-night attack on Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, by Boko Haram from Thursday evening till the early hours of Friday.
Eye witnesses said the suspected Boko Haram insurgents held Damaturu to a mini war as they launched attacks on several structures of the security agencies, and set ablaze the base of the counter-terrorism unit, the Police Area Command, the Mobile Police Base, the State Criminal Investigation Department as well as the armoury of the MOPOL, after the weapons had been looted.
Also the C Division in the capital, which is very close to Mobile Police Barracks, was reportedly vandalised by the insurgents and weapons in its armoury carted away.
Though the actual casualty figure could not be confirmed as at the time of filing this report, unconfirmed report had it that about 15 policemen and 23 soldiers died in the attack while about 30 civilians were killed.
However, military spokesman, Lt.-Col. Eli Lazarus, said that 21 insurgents were killed during the attack in Damaturu while he was silent on the casualty figure on the side of the military and the police.
The state government has since declared a 24-hour curfew while the army and the police are still collating the figures of casualties and taking account of destroyed properties.
Saturday Tribune gathered that the attack started at about 5p.m. when the insurgents attacked the counter-terrorism base.
The security men were said to have responded shooting sporadically to repel the insurgents’ attack. The exchange of gunfire between the Boko Haram and the security operatives went on for hours after which the terrorists reportedly threw launchers at the buildings to set them ablaze.
The shootings were said to have continued through the night until about 4a.m on Friday when there was ceasefire.
Some residents of the town reported seeing corpses on the streets, while others recounted how gunshots were heard at every corner of the town throughout the about seven hours of battle.
One of them who spoke to Saturday Tribune in a telephone conversation said, “I had to lie face down on the floor of my bedroom for about five hours as the gunshots were continuously heard.”
According to another eyewitness to the attack, but for the intervention of the security operatives who engaged the bandits in gun duel for several hours, Damaturu would have been devastated.
Some of the witnesses said that the sect members first launched their attack around the NNPC Mega Station to signal their presence. They then moved to other parts of the town.
According to them, the terrorists must have used Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), among other weapons, as the sound of the explosion was heard across the town.
A resident, Musa Ali, said that the bandits, numbering over 50, stormed Nasarawa Ward and shot indiscriminately. They were also said to have burnt down the MTN mast in the area.
“They invaded the city in large numbers in vehicles and on foot from different directions and launched coordinated attacks on police facilities with guns and explosives and engaged soldiers and policemen in a fierce gunfire exchange that continued deep into the night,” he said.
“They have succeeded in burning down the police area command, the CID (criminal investigation department), the mobile (police) base and the ‘C’ Division police station, all located along Gujba Road on the outskirts of the city,” he added.
The insurgents started by attacking a military checkpoint outside the city, but were repelled by troop reinforcements, then they attacked police in Damaturu, the source added.
“There are indeed casualties, including a number of the insurgents, but it is difficult to say how many they are”, he said.
Another resident, Haruna Sadi, said the attacks started around 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) and continued late into the night, forcing residents to stay indoors.
“We didn’t sleep last night due to fright and the deafening gun sounds and explosions coming from all over the city, which was apparently under siege from Boko Haram gunmen,” Sadi said.
“Everybody is still indoors because of a radio announcement of a 24-hour curfew by the military who request everyone to stay at home as they conduct operations against the gunmen,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday, the curfew in Potiskum town had been reviewed from 10p.m. to 6 a.m. to a new time of 9p.m. to 6a.m. following a gun attack on a congregation at a mosque on Wednesday where a man was killed and the Imam wounded.
But Thursday night’s attack necessitated a return to the 24-hour curfew.
Saturday Tribune gathered that nine suspected Boko Haram members were on Wednesday, October 23, intercepted along Damaturu-Maiduguri road while riding in a cement truck about 8p.m.
The source told Saturday Tribune that a team of 41 Police Mobile Force on stop-and-search operation along the road stopped the vehicle and when it was searched, three pairs of Air Force uniforms, two army T-shirts, unsewn army uniform, one army helmet, six pairs of military boots and a jack knife were recovered from the suspects.
Army kills 74 insurgents in Borno
Barely two days after the military killed 37 members of the Boko Haram sect at Alagarno village in Borno State, 74 other members of the sect were killed Thursday night in continuation of military offensive against terrorists believed to have been those attacking travellers along Maiduguri-Damaturu road.
The Thursday raid by troops of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army destroyed terrorists’ camps in Galangi and Lawanti villages within Mainok area of Borno State.
A statement by the spokesman of the 7 Division, Nigerian Army, Lt.-Col. Muhammed Dole, said the operation, which involved ground and aerial assaults supported by the Nigerian Air Force, led to the destruction of the identified camps, during which 74 terrorists were killed while others fled with serious injuries.
According to the statement, two Isuzu Tiger and five Toyota Hilux vans belonging to the terrorists were destroyed. Two soldiers were wounded in the operation.
The General Officer Commanding 7 Division Nigerian Army, Major-General Obidah Ethan, according to the statement, thanked the general public for their cooperation for providing timely and credible information to security agencies.
A security agent who spoke with Saturday Tribune lamented the restraint being put on the army from using unconventional weapons, saying that this had been giving the insurgents the opportunity to make use of such unconventional weapons against the army and the police.
A source who spoke with Saturday Tribune said that most of the terrorists were foreigners who were recruited Boko Haram to attack Nigerians and the security agencies.
He pointed out that about 2,000 Malians were said to have entered into Nigeria to carry out the recently attack on at the School of Agriculture and the one in Borno State, noting that Nigeria’s porous borders had made the control of influx of the criminals difficult.
The source said that emphasis on human rights by the international community had also put restraint on how far the army could go in tackling the Boko Haram menace.
Boko Haram has said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north.
Violence by the group is estimated to have cost more than 3,600 lives, including killings by the security forces.
Damaturu, capital of Yobe state, has witnessed several deadly attacks by suspected Boko Haram members.
Source: Tribune
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