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BORNO: Military may have lied, as reports indicate Boko Haram now in charge of 6 towns

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Boko Haram kill 2 soldiers in ambush

Multiple sources and fleeing residents have confirmed control of six towns of Baga, Doron-Baga, Kross Kawwa, Bunduran, Kekeno and Kukawa towns of Borno State by Boko Haram fighters.

They reportedly invaded the town, driving in a convoy of more than ten fighter vehicles, using the main road from Kros Kawwa to launch coordinated attacks on Wednesday last week, December 26

They overran the Multinational ‎forces’ headquarters, a naval fighting base and a Marine Police base in some of the attacked areas

Sources who spoke with Daily Trust narrated that the insurgents first attacked a base of the multinational forces located in Mile Four (an area outside Baga town) at about 4pm and the military responded. Fighting took place till midnight after which the insurgents took control of the military base while Nigerian soldiers retreated.

Commander of the multinational force, whose name was given as Brigadier General Hassan, was said to have escaped at night to a police base in Baga town alongside some of his men.

The following day, Thursday, the Nigerian military deployed fighter jets between 6 to 7am, bombing the multinational forces base hoping to prevent Boko Haram from carting away weapons in case they didn’t do that the previous night.

‎The insurgents, said multiple sources, then attacked Mile Three, where the Navy had a fighting base. The Navy was said to have put up stiff resistance but eventually lost control on Thursday. A commander of the base whose name was given as Air Commodore Degel escaped to Monguno.
On Friday, the insurgents reportedly moved to another naval base located about three kilometers north of Baga in an area popularly called Fish Dam on shores of the Lake Chad, through which imports and exports take place between Nigerians and Chadians.

They however spared residents, saying they were after military and civilian JTF fighters. The insurgents gave civilians the choice to stay or to freely leave the town. Majority of residents numbering about 2,000 trekked sixty kilometres to Monguno using bush paths. Commander of the Multinational forces and members of the civilian JTF were said to have joined the residents, whose knowledge of the terrain helped the party to reach Monguno.

Sources added that the insurgents were also in Doron-Baga where hundreds of residents fled through the lake on local boats. ‎The residents are said to be taking refuge in a border village under the control of Chadian authorities.

On Friday, the insurgents made attempts to take over the army’s 8th Brigade in Monguno town but the military repelled them. The insurgents however overran an army base in Kekeno (a town in Kukawa local government area), our sources said.

The sources said the insurgents are currently in control of the six major towns in Kukawa making them in full control of the local government area with water ways accessing Chad.

It was gathered that weak old men and women are currently trapped in the six towns even though majority have freely left.

Residents were forced to trek through bush between Baga and Maiduguri.

A Borno State Civilian JTF leader in Borno State narrated that no fewer than two thousand people fled, including soldiers while weak men and women stayed back.

Read also: Flustered, Nigerian military to relocate residents for full-scale war on Boko Haram

“The Divisional Police State at Baga is empty as the DPO and his men there fled because an insurgent happened to be arrested by the police and his fellow insurgents had vowed to get him out at whatever cost. This is the much I can tell you. Security there is very fragile and, if there are people there at all, they may not be up to 500 as at today (Sunday),” he said.

“The insurgents invaded our town on Wednesday,” Garba Adam of Doron Baga said. “When they came, they told us not to fear, that the town had now become part of Daula [Islamic State], and that whoever wished to stay as a resident of the Daula could do so and whoever wished to leave could also do so. So on Thursday, we left the town. Residents fled in different directions.”

Meanwhile, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State is expected to hold ‎an emergency extraordinary security meeting today in Maiduguri.

Those expected at the meeting include heads of security establishments, leadership of the Civilian JTF and hunters, traditional rulers and Borno elders. The state’s three Senators, 10 House of Reps and 28 state assembly members, selected chairmen and commissioners from local government areas affected by recent attacks, leadership of the University of Maiduguri and selected tertiary institutions.

Chairmen of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Nigeria Bar Association, Nigerian Union of Journalists, National Council of Women Societies and Nigeria Legion in Borno State are also expected to attend.

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