Boko Haram insurgents have
reportedly hoisted their flag in Baga, a town in Borno state.
A resident who disclosed on
Thursday evening said the insurgents took over the community after overrunning
a military base.
“After displacing soldiers and
rendering residents homeless, they hoisted their flag there. No one can deny
this,” the resident who pleaded anonymity said.
A resident identified as Labbo
Dan-Baga also confirmed this on a radio programme monitored by us on Thursday.
“Boko Haram has hoisted its flag
in Baga… We went to the mosque to pray and discovered we were surrounded by
Boko Haram,” he said.
“They told us not to panic as we
prayed together… they said they were not going to kill any civilian. And that
they are from the Abu-Mossad Albarnawi’s ISWAP faction. They told us to stay in
the town or leave if we want to. They dressed in browned caftan with army
boots. Some completely covered their faces with mask.”
Another source said the
insurgents also engaged troops in heavy fire in Doron Baga, Cross Kauwa and
Kukawa areas of Borno and that Boko Haram fighters seized many gun trucks.
More than 5,000 persons have been
displaced from Baga, Kukawa, Cross Kauwa, Mairari ward in Gudunbali and Garand
in Guzamala local government areas of Borno after frequent attacks by the
insurgents in the last one week.
Boko Haram fighters not only
chased people from the communities but set many houses ablaze.
“The terrorists were really
determined. They kept returning to communities in Guzamala after every attack,”
the source said.
Bashir Garga, zonal coordinator
of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the north-east, said a
total of 2,046 internally displaced persons (IDPs) had their biodata captured
by the agency on Tuesday alone.
The registered IDPs were from 204
households of the five communities, which have been affected by the activities
of the insurgents.
“Immediate need assessment
include: shelters, food, blankets, buckets, mosquito net,hygiene kits cooking
materials, plastic bucket. In this period of harmattan,the registration is
still ongoing as more are expected,” a NEMA official said.
Sani Usman, army spokesman, who
had earlier confirmed the attack in Baga in a statement, is yet to respond to inquiries on the hoisting of flag.
In his statement, Usman had said
the troops successfully repelled the attack but that a naval officer was
killed.
Boko Haram has become more
ferocious in recent times even though the current administration has often said
that the sect has been decimated.
President Muhammadu Buhari and
Lai Mohammed, minister of information, have on different occasions said Boko
Haram has not been able to capture a single community in Nigeria since this
government took over power.
Under ex-President Goodluck
Jonathan, the insurgents took control of some communities in the north-east.
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