There was
confusion on Tuesday on whether or not the outlawed Boko Haram sect had overrun
Bama, a town 70 kilometres from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
While Rueters news agency quoted
security sources as saying that the members of the
sect had overrun much of the town after hours of
fighting on Monday night and early hours of Tuesday, the Deputy Governor of the
state, Zannah Mustapha, and the Civilian Joint Task Force dismissed
the report as false.
But what
was clear to our correspondents as of press time on Tuesday was
that the casualty figure had risen from 59 to 180.
The
militants had launched an attack on Bama on Monday but were
initially repelled. They however came back in greater numbers
overnight, the security sources and witnesses said.
The sources
said there were heavy casualties on both sides. One said at least 5,000 people
fled the town.
Reuters quoted a soldier involved in the Bama battle
as having said that several of his colleagues were
killed close to the Bama armoury in a bungled strike by a fighter jet targeting
the insurgents.
He said the
troops called in air reinforcements as they took on the insurgents but by the
time a fighter jet arrived, they had mostly lost the battle in the
area .
“The jet
then bombed the area but accidentally killed everyone there, both Nigerian
troops and insurgents,” it quoted the soldier as saying.
“The
situation is bad. We lost so many of our men,” he said.
The Senator
representing Borno Central, Senator Ahmed Zannah, had also confirmed Reuters report.
But the Borno
State Deputy Governor told journalists at a news conference in
Maiduguri that the military was in full control of the security
situation in the town.
Although
Mustapha was silent on the casualty figure, he revealed that over 2,000 people
who fled Bama had been resettled in the National Youths
Service Corps orientation camp and the Government Girls Secondary School in
Maiduguri.
He added,
“The attack on Bama yesterday (Monday) was very unfortunate; but I want to
reassure our people that government is on top of the situation. Already, those
in the camps are being taken care of and our security forces are engaging the
insurgents in a fierce battle which is worthy of commendation.”
Appealing to
the people to desist from creating unnecessary tension in the
state, he said he was “particularly happy for the cooperation we
have so far received from Gombe and Adamawa state governments.”
At an
earlier press conference in Maiduguri on Tuesday, the Chairman of
the Civilian JTF, Jubrin Gunda, had said that
35 insurgents were arrested in Bama.
Gunda said
the report by some international media that quoted Senator Ahmed Zannah as
saying that the town had been overrun by the insurgents should be
discountenanced.
Admitting
that the insurgents attempted to overrun Bama, he said
they were subdued by the military at the periphery of the town.
Gunda, who
added that the death toll had risen to 180, said, “We categorically deny and
disassociate ourselves from an interview granted to some foreign media by one
Senator Ahmed Zannah as what he stated is not true facts on the ground.
“More so,
the interview he granted has contributed in instilling fears in the minds of
citizens of Borno State, especially the residents of Maiduguri.”
“However, we
want to reassure the citizens of Borno State that, nobody should panic and no
one should leave Maiduguri because all that have been said are mere rumours.
“All
citizens should desist from making unguided and false information which will
further frighten the citizens unnecessarily.”
Zannah had
also told one of our correspondents over the telephone that the insurgents were
in control of Bama.
He said,
“Like I said yesterday(Monday), Bama is in the hands of Boko Haram, nothing has
changed today(Tuesday). The Borno State Government is trying to play politics
with the issue. I don’t know if they are trying to appease the military or the
Federal Government.
“Even
this(Tuesday) morning, my brother’s two children were killed.
Anybody telling you that Boko Haram is not in control of Bama is telling a lie.
Many people were killed in the fighting.I don’t know the number because there
is no access to the place. Some of those who died have not even been buried
yet.”
Investigations
revealed that the military authorities had sent fighter jets during
hours of fierce fighting between troops and the insurgents early on Tuesday.
A security
source said that the military leadership in the North-East had made
preparation for the strafing of the town by telling all the civilians and even
military personnel to relocate from the vicinity of areas under the control of
the insurgents.
It was
learnt that some security personnel and civilians who obeyed the
advice were being quartered at Sectors 8 and 9 in
Maiduguri.
It was
further gathered that the intensity of air attacks on the insurgents aided the
soldiers in pushing them out of Bama.
As of the
time of filing this report, the insurgents were said to be massing on the
outskirts of Bama apparently to carry out another assault on the town.
The security
source said that Monday’s attack by the insurgents was coordinated from Gwoza,
which the insurgents captured last week.
The security
source said that soldiers and the insurgents were still engaged in a gun duel
over the control of the town even though the troops had been able to push them
out of the town.
However,
there were fears in Maiduguri as some residents said it
was time for them to start planning relocating from the town.
One of them
, Sunday Emmanuel, said his apprehension was based on the news
filtering through Bama and the influx of people from the town into Maiduguri.
He said,
‘‘There is everything to believe that the insurgents are closing in on
Maiduguri with the capture of Damboa, Gwoza and now the attack on Bama.”
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