A vigilante group made up of residents
of Kalabalge, a town in the north of Borno State, on Wednesday mounted a
fierce resistance to
a siege by members of Boko Haram, inflicting
severe casualties on militants from the fringe Islamist sect.
“We killed many of them (Boko Haram
members) today (Wednesday),” one of the residents of the town who took
part in the battle told a correspondent of SaharaReporters.
However, local officials who spoke to Al Jazeera said 41 insurgents were killed by the villagers
Several other residents disclosed that
the members of the community had received advance information that Boko
Haram’s death squads were on their way to wreak havoc in the community.
“Once we got the information, we gathered many of our young men and
positioned ourselves in surrounding bushes and forests. We were armed
with bows and arrows, Dane guns and pump action rifles,” said one
source.
The sources added that some 400 Boko
Haram militants wearing army uniforms arrived in Kalabalge around 5 a.m.
in two armoured tanks, eight Hilux pick-up vehicles, and seven sports
utility vehicles (SUVS), all painted in Nigerian army colours according
to eyewitnesses.
The sectarian terrorists however
received the shock of their lives from the ambush of the community’s
vigilantes. The Boko Haram attackers were overwhelmed by the residents’
surprise firepower.
A security agent confirmed to
SaharaReporters that the villagers killed several of the attackers and
captured many of them, even though the rest of the terrorists scampered
off into the bush and forests, some of them with injuries. The security
source disclosed that some village vigilantes lost their lives while a
few sustained gunshot wounds.
Kalabalge community is a few kilometers from Gamboru-Ngala where sect members killed at least 300 people last week Tuesday.
Our security source said Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State is expected to visit Kalabalge later this week.
Source: Punch Newspaper.
No comments:
Post a Comment