Tension is mounting in Borno State capital, Maiduguri, due to a report that Boko Haram insurgents are in the consolidation stage of their hold on Bama and even providing some socio-economic needs for those trapped in the town while preparing to advance to Maiduguri.
Soldiers deployed to reclaim the town have not been able to enter Bama; they were said to have camped at Kawuri, a village under Konduga local government area, which is about 25km from Bama.
Soldiers were said to have killed 50 of the insurgents at Kawuri village which is the only settlement before Konduga. Konduga is about 35 kilometres to Maiduguri and was repeatedly hit in previous attacks by the heartless terrorists.
Leadership gathered from an escaped resident of Bama, Malam Gire, that they had to make a U-turn in their bid to return to Bama after the state government officials assured them on Tuesday that all was fine in the attacked town.
“We couldn’t return to Bama as we intended to do because some of our people who managed to escape on Friday and arrived Maiduguri told us that the Boko Haram terrorists are still in Bama and are now taking charge of affairs in the town,” said Gire. “They said the Boko Haram have broken into most of our shops and are looting our wares and distributing them to themselves and some of the women and children that are there in the town. They said they have also gone to open the town’s borehole and were asking the women to go fetch water there. So we had to stay put and rest the urge to return.”
Information from the Defence Headquarters’ twitter account said one fabricated artillery gun, two anti-aircraft gun, an armoured vehicle and assorted types of ammunition were captured in the process.
Some hardware, weapons, food items and personal belongings were also destroyed in the raid while one officer and two soldiers were seriously wounded.
An official of the Civilian-JTF, Garba Danbatta, had confirmed to Leadership that they still had not been able to go to Bama as earlier planned, even though he said they were still strategising on how to go about reclaiming the town.
“We have not been able to enter Bama yet, but we still have the intention of going there as soon as we have perfected our plans,” he said.
Another displaced resident of Bama, Masta’a Garba, who is taking refuge at the NYSC orientation ground in Maiduguri had ruled out the possibility of returning to Bama anytime soon.
“Apart from attacking the soldiers in Bama, the Boko Haram gunmen had selectively attacked and killed some of our people and neighbours before we too managed to flee into Maiduguri on Tuesday,” said Garba.
“They were too many that came in various vehicles and armoured tanks; we initially thought they were soldiers, but, from the appearance of their outfits, we quickly realised we were in danger. Some of us fled since Monday but we managed to escape the next day and ran towards Kawuri; from there we realised it was still not very safe, so we had to proceed on foot to Maiduguri."
Though the atmosphere in Maiduguri appeared normal, residents were still overwhelmed by fear for their lives over possible attacks.
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