Boko Haram insurgents have begun to relocate from their
camp in Sambisa forest in Borno State to captured territories in
northern
Nigeria, according to latest reports.
This
follows the sustained territorial conquests by the insurgents who have
occupied the army base in Gamboru town in Borno State which they took
over on Monday, witnesses said.
A senior official in
Gwoza town in Borno captured on 6 August, told AFP that the insurgents
have turned the sacked emir’s palace in Gwoza to their headquarters.
“As
you are aware, part of the administrative unit of the palace was
destroyed but the insurgents are using the remaining part as their
headquarters,” he told AFP.
“In the past few days, even
the old people who could not move to anywhere were taken out by the
Boko Haram. They put them in vehicles and drove to the outskirts of
Limankara, 16 kilometres away and left them there. Both Limankara
village, the police training school there, Pulka village and dozens of
communities around Gwoza are all under the control of the Boko Haram,”
the official said.
Villagers living near Sambisa forest in Borno State
reported seeing a large number of Boko Haram militants leaving the camp
and moving towards southern Borno with their families and possibly many
of their hostages to as Gwoza, Buni Yadi, Ashigashya, Madagali among
others captured recently.
A villager in Kirawa, a town
on the Cameroonian side, also said he had seen some suspected Boko Haram
militants moving through Cameroonian territory to Nigeria with large
amounts of cargo in tightly secured convoys.
They have
also taken over the Vocational Training Centre in Gamboru by stationing
dozens of their fighters there and are giving orders to residents.
On
the other hand, hundreds of Cameroonian soldiers are on alert at the
border between Nigeria and Cameroon, apparently in readiness to confront
the insurgents in case they make any move to encroach into their
territories, sources said.
A source said they are currently near Fotokol, across the river that also serves as border between Nigeria and Cameroon.
Various
sources in Gamboru said Nigerian soldiers are yet to return to the town
after they fled to Cameroon following a fierce fight with the
insurgents on Monday.
“We are still at the mercy of the
Boko Haram insurgents who have taken absolute control of Gamboru,”
Mukhtar Aliyu Modu, one of the residents who still lives in Gamboru
said.
“The insurgents have everything, including
sophisticated guns, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and many other
vehicles. They also have countless motorcycles. Some of them are
currently patrolling Gamboru but they did not kill anybody or attack our
houses, shops and other personal effects.
“I cannot
tell you how many they (Boko Haram) are but from all indications, they
are in hundreds because they have divided themselves into many
subgroups. They are going round talking to people, not really preaching.
They are saying those who are not willing to stay should quietly move
out of the town, insisting that they did not come to kill us,” Modu
said.
Another resident of Gamboru who gave his name as Makinta said they are still living in fear.
“The
insurgents are in charge and we were terrified in the morning when we
heard about 10 simultaneous sounds of explosives. We thought the
insurgents had started destroying our town but later found out that the
explosives were buried near the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. I
think it was the insurgents that buried them to serve as traps but
luckily enough, nobody, either civilian or Nigerian troops passed
through the area while fleeing to Cameroon at the height of the fight on
Monday,” Makinta said.
He said at about 4pm on
Tuesday, the Boko Haram insurgents did not make any move to confront the
Cameroonian troops who were around Fotokol, one of the major towns in
Cameroon that is not far from Nigeria.
Displaced
persons from Gamboru-Ngala are trapped in Fotocol unable to find food
and shelter three days after Boko Haram militants sacked their hometown
and surrounding villages.
A heavy rainfall made it impossible for their relatives and aid agencies in Cameroon to reach them.
Meanwhile,
findings by our correspondents reveal that Gwoza, which Abubakar Shekau
declared as an “Islamic Caliphate” in a video released on Sund,ay is
still under control of the Boko Haram. Credible sources said Nigerian
troops are yet to mobilize to the town which was subdued on 6 August.
While
dozens of people, most especially youths, have been killed at the
height of the crisis, it was gathered that almost all the locals in the
town, which has a population of over 50,000 have fled.
“As far as I know, there is nobody in Gwoza except the insurgents,” a senior official from Gwoza said.
Source:PM News
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