The Defence Headquarters has ordered a fresh security beef up in Maiduguri, following alleged dropping of fliers by Boko Haram of a planned invasion of the city.
Giwa and Maimalari barracks, both of which the insurgents threaten to target, have been fortified and movement restricted to only those legitimately living there.
The military and other security agencies have also been placed on the alert in the 18 Local Government Areas of Borno State largely unaffected by the insurgency.
However, fog yesterday slowed down aerial attacks on the insurgents in Bama and Gwoza.
Reports from the area indicated that the insurgents were running out of food supply especially in Bama and Gwoza.
Consequently, the terrorists have been forcing residents to share their food ration with them.
A well placed security source said the Defence Headquarters and security agencies are investigating the alleged dropping of threat fliers by the insurgents.
The source said the development called for the tightening of security in Maiduguri and the insurgents might have hidden under the cover of the prolonged outage in the state capital to circulate the fliers.
Maiduguri has been without electricity supply for over four months now following the destruction of supply chain by the insurgents.
The source said: “The military and other agencies are investigating the authenticity or otherwise of the fliers and their origin.
“The DHQ has directed all formations to ensure tight security for Maiduguri. We are not taking any information, no matter how suspicious, for granted in view of the guerrilla tactics of the insurgents. Troops have been asked to protect everywhere in Maiduguri and some towns and villages in the state which have not witnessed insurgency.
“Nigerians should appreciate that the insurgents have this style of driving fears into the citizenry. Given heavy military presence in Maiduguri, there is no way Boko Haram will attack the town because they paid dearly for it when they attempted it twice.
“The good thing is that, apart from the military, everyone in Maiduguri is psychologically prepared for the insurgents.”
Another source said: “I think the insurgents took advantage of the outage in Maiduguri to drop the threat fliers through their agents or contacts.
“This is why civilian task force, called Civilian JTF, has been fishing out suspected Boko Haram members and agents in Maiduguri. I think the insurgents will be coming for suicide mission if they dare attack the state capital.
On the situation in Giwa and Maimalari barracks in the town, the source added: “These formations have been fortified and movement restricted to only the soldiers and their relations.
“Though it is normal in war situation for relations of troops to relocate from the barracks, we have not reached that level in Maiduguri.”
Meanwhile, fogs yesterday slowed down the aerial bombardments of Bama and Gwoza by the military.
But there were indications that the insurgents were running out of food supply.
The insurgents were said to be forcing the surviving residents to share their food ration with them.
Giving an update yesterday, a military source said: “The aerial attacks on Bama and Gwoza were slowed down on Saturday by weather, especially thick clouds.
“Normal bombardments may resume on Sunday if the weather condition improves. So far, the aerial attacks have affected the insurgents who have lost many of their members.
“They cannot sustain the siege on Bama and Gwoza because they are already running out of food supply. We will reclaim these towns from the insurgents who are managing to survive. They now live on the ration of innocent residents and inhabitants of these towns.”
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