Soldiers Evacuate Families From Barracks As Boko Haram Drops Fliers About Plan To Seize Maiduguri

Families and non-military staff residing in two major military barracks in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, are being evacuated after Islamist insurgents dropped letters announcing their plan to take the most important city in Nigeria’s northeast region. The letters were dropped at the gates of Giwa and Maimalari military barracks as well as different parts of the city of Maiduguri.
Several soldiers also told SaharaReporters that some of their colleagues had fled the barracks after the letters were circulated amongst military personnel yesterday. A military officer at Defense Headquarters in Abuja said he was not aware of any desertions.

Maiduguri civilians preparing for boko haram coming

The letter detailing the planned attack on Maiduguri was written in the Hausa language. It specifies that Boko Haram’s unpredictable leader, Abubakar Shekau, planned to personally lead insurgent fighters to attack Maimalari, the more formidable of the two barracks, and to fight to the death as a martyr.
“Soldiers are moving their wives and children out because they should not be there if a battle begins,” a security source said.

Boko Haram appears emboldened by its success in capturing Bama, the second largest city in Borno State. The Nigerian army and officials of Borno State were so rattled by the insurgents’ seizure of Bama that they claimed for two days that the town remained under Nigerian troops’ control. However, a senior official of the Borno State government told SaharaReporters yesterday that there was no doubt that Bama had fallen to the insurgents. A senior United States official also acknowledged the capture of the town by insurgents, and disclosed that the US would provide logistical assistance to the Nigerian government to help secure Maiduguri.

Yesterday, the Islamist terrorists began an apparent push towards Maiduguri by killing some 30 people near Kawuri town. They now have just an army checkpoint in Konduga standing between them and Maiduguri, a city with more than two million residents.

Mass Killings as Boko Haram seize Gwoza "Part of Islamic Caliphate

After Shekau’s 25-minute speech, the video shows militant fighters on pick-up trucks firing rocket-propelled grenades and other heavily armed insurgents firing weapons as they walk calmly along the road.

The footage appears to show them taking over a military base, stealing weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition as well as fuel cans.

In one frame, a fighter stands on top of a tank, waving the Islamists’ black flag.

The end of the video apparently depicts scenes of grisly executions, similar to those released by IS in recent weeks. Boko Haram have used similar tactics before, however.

In one scene, about 20 men in civilian clothing are shown with their hands tied behind their backs and lying by the roadside before they are shot at close range.

A second shows two men, whom Shekau said disguised themselves as women to escape the town, beaten to death with shovels. Two others similarly dressed are shot beside what appears to be a trench full of bodies.

Boko Haram Takes Charge Of Yet Another Town In Yobe State, Hoists Flag

Boko Haram has seized control of a town in northeastern Nigeria, the latest to fall into Islamist hands in the crisis-hit region, witnesses and a local official said Thursday.

Several residents who fled the Boko Haram assault on Buni Yadi in Yobe state said it began late last month, with the insurgents ultimately taking over the main government building.

They have reportedly raised their flag above the building and have carried out summary executions, including of two people who were caught smoking cigarettes.

Abdullahi Bego, the spokesman for Yobe’s Governor Ibrahim Geidam, could not confirm the executions.

But he told AFP: “As I speak there are no military in Buni Yadi and locals say that Boko Haram come and go as they please.



“So many people from Buni Yadi have fled to the state capital Damaturu,” he added.

Residents said the rebels, who massacred dozens of students at a boarding school in Buni Yadi in February and kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls from neighbouring Borno state in April, had set up roadblocks.

They were also robbing people as they tried to flee.

“I left Buni Yadi yesterday (Wednesday) because it was no longer safe for me and my family,” said trader Surajo Muhammad.

The gunmen “shot dead two men for smoking and they also killed a known drug peddler”, he added.

Tijjani Bukar, who also fled, reported the same executions.

“I couldn’t stay any longer because I came to realise these people have come to stay,” he said.

“I thought they would be there for a few days but from our understanding they have turned the town into their (territory).”

The United Nations has confirmed that Boko Haram had seized control of the towns of Damboa and Gwoza in Borno state in recent weeks.

There are indications that Damboa was retaken by the military in an offensive earlier this month but details are not clear.

Source: NaijaPals

‘Top Politicians’ ID Cards, Party Materials Found In Boko Haram Camp

The federal government yesterday revealed that identity cards belonging to some top politicians as well as party materials were found in the Boko Haram terrorists’ base in Balmo Forest in the Darazo local government area of Bauchi State.

It said that the items recovered during the last operations carried out by security forces to dislodge terrorists from their forest bases had linked some politicians and political parties to terrorism.
The coordinator of the National Information Centre, Mr Mike Omeri, disclosed this while briefing journalists on government’s efforts towards the rescue of the abducted Chibok girls.

 Omeri, who was silent on the details of the development, however vowed that the federal government will reveal the names of the politicians and parties involved, as the matter is still under investigation.
Omeri further said, “Investigation is still ongoing to further unravel the identity of others that may have been involved and as soon as it is completed, we shall reveal the names of the culprits and the political parties.”
He said, “Some politicians are currently being investigated following their link with terrorist activities in the forest.”

He said that the government would not condone the involvement of politicians in security matters.
Speaking on the release of the abducted Chibok girls, Omeri said efforts are being made to bring the girls back safely.
He, however, said the details cannot be revealed for now owing to the delicate nature of the operations.