SCORES of people were, on Sunday,
killed in Maiduguri, when a combined efforts of army, Special Anti-Robbery
Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police and volunteer youths, popularly known as
Civilian JTF successfully repelled an attempt by the Boko Haram terrorists to
invade Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
It was gathered that the Boko
Haram terrorists, who came through Molai village, outskirts of the city, forced
a lot of residents of the area to flee.
It will be recalled that the
incident which started at about 7.00 a.m. on Sunday, occurred barely one week
after the last Sunday’s attack on Maiduguri and only two weeks to the February
14th general election.
A resident of the area, Mallam
Garba Molai, said they were told by the soldier in the area to flee the area,
as all the soldiers took position and engaged the terrorists in a fierce
battle.
He said people were killed,
including civilians with more casualties on the side of the insurgents, as the
combined efforts of the military, civilian JTF and SARS, assisted by aerial
bombardment by the Nigerian Air Force, successfully repelled them.
He said “Many insurgents were
killed, including some civilian casualties, while two artilleries, vehicles,
motorcycles and other armories were recovered.
“Many people had fled the area,
except a few of us assisting the security operatives.”
A member of civilian JTF, Ibrahim
Idi, who also took part in the operation, told the Nigerian Tribune on phone
that “as I am talking to you, we just came back from Dalia village in pursuit
of the fleeing terrorists. We killed a lot of them, while two artilleries,
vehicles, motorcycles and many arms and ammunition were also recovered.”
He said “one of the insurgents
who hid on the fence of Molai General Hospital was aiming soldiers, our members
and civilians, but thank God, one resident of the area took him by surprise,
came behind the fence and brought him down with his stick and our boys quickly
went there and killed him.”
Another member of civilian JTF,
Garba Mansur, who took part in the operation, said they received a call from
their overall chairman that the insurgents were successfully repelled along
Molai village along Maiduguri-Damboa road, outskirts of the city and that they
were moving towards Dala Abuja Zannari area and that they quickly mobilised
their members and moved to the area.
He said: “It was a hectic
operation, as the military engaged them in a gun battle, assisted by our
members, but when the insurgents started shooting Rocket Propelled Grenade
(RPG), the soldier asked us to start crawling; before we knew it, four of our
members were killed.”
Speaking on the incident, Thomas
Andrew, an elder in one of the churches in Maiduguri said
that: “It was a pathetic situation for us, the common people, that our leaders
have failed us. For me, I think this is the time our president, our
representatives at the National Assembly and all well-meaning Nigerians to
agree and come to terms with the reality of happenings in Borno State.
“Even if it means declaring a
total state of emergency and allow the military to do their job properly, this
is the time before it is too late.”
Elder Andrew, who could not
attend church service as many other worshippers, told the Nigerian Tribune that
he was not in the position to advise the authorities, particularly the
president, but to him and considering what he had seen in the state, there was
more to it than meet the eye, as the war against terrorism in Borno State was
not yet uhuru if politics or its activities was not suspended for a while.
Residents of Molai quarters
living along the battle lines, Nigerian Tribune learnt had since vacated their
houses, as soldiers made way for them to flee, so as to avoid heavy casualty.
The battle which is still ongoing as of the time of filing this report had
residents crying to God for intervention.
It was gathered that sounds of
gunshots had were heard all over the city with military artillery and jet
fighters going round the city; though nobody knew the extent or how the battle
formation was drawn, but there was hope that the security forces would succeed
in repelling the insurgents.
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