Boko Haram controls, renames Mubi as Madinatul Islam

YOLA— FEW hours after the Federal Government gave the military marching orders to flush out Boko Haram insurgents from Mubi, the commercial nerve centre and second largest town in Adamawa State, the terrorists, yesterday, defiantly renamed the town ‘Madinatul Islam’, which means the city of Islam.

Four local governments of Michika, Madagali, Mubi North and Mubi South of Adamawa State are now in the firm grip of the insurgents, throwing up thousands of internally displaced persons.

Trapped residents of the town who spoke on telephone confirmed that the insurgents firmly in control have renamed the town and have also set up check-points in strategic locations. The terrorists were also said to have urged all the residents who fled to return as they would be more secure in the areas controlled by Boko Haram than in Nigerian territories.

A trapped resident, Aliyu Bala, who spoke on telephone said: “They (insurgents) mounted check-points in strategic locations, brandishing rifles but asking us not to panic or run away. But despite assurances of safety and security, thousands of the trapped residents have been sneaking out as they said they would not risk staying in the town for fear of the unknown.”

A resident of Uba town, Mallam Salisu Baba, however, said normal activities have started picking up in the captured territories as Boko Haram enjoined residents to go about their normal activities while asking them to open their shops for business.

He said: “The insurgents have also warned politicians not to try to hold any election in the state as they vowed to frustrate any of such actions and restated their resolve to capture the whole state in no distant time.”

Baba said the insurgents have assured them of security and freedom. He added that unlike other parts of the state where curfew was imposed and people were prevented from riding motorcycles, the insurgents have assured residents of free movement any time of the day and asked them to ride their motorcycles and go about their normal activities.

According to him: “The insurgents have assured people of freedom and have been telling shop owners to open their shops, threatening that anyone who fails to open his shop will have the shop broken. Whenever the insurgents want any commodity, they pay for it. This encouraged meat sellers, tea sellers and others to open for business.

“They provided security during the market day of Uba town last Thursday while promising to continue to give market owners and residents who come to the area utmost security as long as they comply with Islamic rules. They have opened one of the filling stations belonging to A.A Garba in Uba town as motorists trooped to buy the commodity due to high demand,” Baba said.

Yola-based legal practitioner, Sunday Joshua Wugirawho, who went to Maiha town to pick up his aged parents who fled to the town when Mubi was captured, said despite the assurance by the insurgents, several trapped residents were still fleeing, including soldiers.

“I was in Maiha few hours ago. The pathetic plight of the people I saw was simply beyond imagination. We were in a commercial bus when some fleeing soldiers said we must adjust for them to get space in the bus, and we had no choice than to oblige. It’s unfortunate that even soldiers joined civilians to run away,” he said.

Boko Haram on rampage in Gombe, attacks police station

Meanwhile, gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents, yesterday, launched an attack on the police station in Nafada Local Government Area of Gombe State. The gunmen also took over the premises of a strategic cement manufacturing company in Gombe State, shortly after killing five people including a Sheikh in a neighbouring town.

According to workers at Ashaka Cement factory, the heavily armed militants came in convoys of pick-up vans and started shooting indiscriminately at workers after the security guards at the company fled into the bush.

Police officers attached to the Nafada station were said to have been overpowered as some of the officers reportedly fled on sighting the insurgents who had superior fire power.

Arms and ammunition were believed to have been looted from the station.

Spokesperson of the Command, Fwaje Atajiri, confirmed there were reports of attacks in Nafada, and that reinforcement had been sent there. He however said details of the incident were still sketchy.

30 killed, 89 injured in Yobe bomb attack — hospital

In a related development, Executive Secretary of Yobe Hospitals Management Board, Dr Mamman Mohammed, has confirmed that 30 persons died while 89 others were injured in last Monday bomb attack in Potiskum, Yobe State.

He told Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, who paid a visit to the victims at the Potiskum General Hospital that some of the victims with severe injuries have been referred to tertiary health institutions in Azare and Nguru.

Gaidam directed that free treatment be given to the victims, saying “the government will bear all the medical bills of the victims, including those referred to other hospitals outside the state.”

He also condoled with the Shi’ite group on the death of their members. Members of the group were presumably attacked by a suicide bomber while on a procession.

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Boko Haram controls, renames Mubi as Madinatul Islam

Update: Boko Haram, Troops clash in Mubi along Michika

Boko Haram fighters on Wednesday clashed with Nigerian troops in the country’s remote northeast, forcing thousands to flee, after two other attacks that further undermined claims of a ceasefire.

Soldiers in Borno fighting Boko Haram

Residents said insurgents first overran the town of Uba in Borno state before moving to try to take Mubi, a commercial hub in neighbouring Adamawa, using firepower including rocket-propelled grenades.

“There is virtually not a single resident left in Mubi. Everybody has left to save their lives,” local resident Habu Saidu told AFP, as he trekked through the bush.

“People in thousands left the town on foot because all roads have been blocked by soldiers and it is not possible to leave by road.”

Fighting was reported to be fiercest around the town’s military barracks.

Nigeria’s government earlier this month announced that they had secured a ceasefire deal with Boko Haram and agreement to release 219 schoolgirls abducted from their Borno school in mid-April.

But violence — and further kidnappings — have continued unabated.

Saidu said the insurgents, who want to create a hardline Islamic state in northern Nigeria, stormed the town in large numbers on motorcycles and four-wheel-drive vehicles.

“Soldiers responded by opening fire and two military jets dropped bombs on Boko Haram positions. We left because it is no longer safe to stay,” he added.

Another resident, Muhammad Madani, said he saw Boko Haram fighters firing two RPGs from a black jeep before the air force jets arrived and dropped five bombs.

“We saw the Boko Haram fighters. They kept saying they had come to fight the military and police and not civilians,” he added.

“No one believes them. We know how they killed people in all the places they seized after assuring them they were not going to harm them.”

In September, panicked residents fled their homes in Mubi after the rebels seized Michika, 42 kilometres (26 miles) away, in anticipation of an attack.

Mubi, which has previously been targeted by Boko Haram, had seen an influx of thousands of residents escaping the violence in nearby towns and villages.

Security fears forced the closure of the Adamawa State University, which is based in the town.

The attack comes after suspected ‎Boko Haram gunmen killed several people in the town of Kukawa, some 180 kilometres from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, near Lake Chad, on Monday.

Heavily armed fighters in all-terrain vehicles stormed the town and opened fire on police and a local market.

Kukawa, near Lake Chad, has been repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram, forcing Nigeria’s state-run oil company to abandon prospecting and drilling.

“They (the gunmen) killed several people, especially around the market, where traders had gone for commercial activities,” said the Kukawa local government chairman Modu Musa.

“They burnt the whole market, the police station, government lodge, dozens of vehicles ‎and most houses in the town in indiscriminate rocket and bomb attacks.”

Police officers in Kukawa initially intercepted the insurgents on the outskirts of the town and engaged them in a fight but ‎were forced to retreat because of the gunmen’s superior firepower, Musa said.

There was no immediate comment from Nigeria’s military and independent corroboration is impossible with communications largely cut off and travel dangerous in the remote region.

Security analysts estimate that Boko Haram controlled at least 20 major towns in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states at the time the purported ceasefire deal was announced on October 17.

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Update: Boko Haram, Troops clash in Mubi along Michika

Angry Boko Haram Attacks Uba Town Along Michika

Yola – Following days of bombardment on the hideouts of Boko Haram by the Nigerian military, fleeing insurgents have attacked Uba town and other adjourning villages along the Michika-Madagali-Borno axis.

Another report has it that the fleeing insurgents are closing on Mararaba Mubi, Vimtim and Mubi even as the casualty figures in Uba town is yet to be ascertained, though local residents claimed that it is on a high side.

Already Mubi, the commercial nerve centre and second biggest town in Adamawa is deserted by residents for the second time in three months, even as three higher institutions there have been forced to close down again.

More details son

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Angry Boko Haram Attacks Uba Town Along Michika

Soldiers allegedly regain Michika, Gulak from Boko Haram

There are strong indications that the Nigerian Military have over-ran the Boko Haram sect and liberated Michika and Gulak in Madagali Local Government of Adamawa State.

Boko Haram killed in Bama

The two towns had been under the control of Boko Haram insurgents since September 7, this year.

A source, while speaking to one of our correspondents on the telephone, said following the fierce fighting between the military and the insurgents, the soldiers crushed the sect and took control of the towns.

According to the source, “I can confirm to you authoritatively that the military are advancing towards Madagali after taking over Michika and Gulak.”

The source, who spoke from Michika, on Monday, noted that despite the military bombardment, the insurgents tried to regroup at the Government Technical College, Michika on Sunday night but they were dislodged by the soldiers.

Though efforts to get the reaction of the Army Public Relations Officer of the 23rd Army Brigade Yola, Capt. Nuhu Jabaru, proved abortive as his GSM line was not reachable, the Adamawa State Acting Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, confirmed the development.

Fintiri, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Solomon Kumangar, commended the military for liberating the two local government areas overran by the militants in the past one month.

He said the liberation of Michika and the other towns was a welcome development.

Reports indicated that about 200 insurgents had been killed in the latest offensive as Boko Haram insurgents were forced to beat a retreat when troops routed them from Michika town.

“The Nigerian troops have gained entry into Michika and Gulak and are now fully in control of the towns after they dealt a severe blow to the insurgents, who lost about 200 members while some escaped with gunshot injuries,” the source said.

He added that the insurgents came through Uba and attacked the Nigerian troops who had already advanced into Michika but were repelled immediately.

“The gallant Nigerian soldiers were attacked from behind by the militants but the soldiers engaged them in a fierce battle for over five hours and eventually overpowered them,” the source said.

However, there are reports that the members of the Boko Haram Sect have launched another attack on some communities in Adamawa State after they fled Michika.

It was gathered that some of the insurgents evaded the fighter jets of the Nigerian Air Force and went to hide in two buildings and an EYN Church but were bombed by the military inside the buildings.

“The Boko Haram today entered Madagali, and Michika, but the soldiers cleared them; they also bombed the two houses and a church (EYN) where the Boko Haram went to hide,” the source said.

However, the source said that the insurgents moved into the hometown of the Minister of Youth Development, Alhaji Boni Hanura, Kuburshawshaw, and killed about 70 people.

The insurgents were also said to have raided two other towns, Watu and Garta, before they were forced to withdraw in the direction of Gwoza by troops.

The report was not confirmed.

When our correspondent contacted the Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, he said that the Madagali and Michika axis remained areas of the ongoing military operation in the North-East.

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Soldiers allegedly regain Michika, Gulak from Boko Haram

Nigerian military reclaims some towns from Boko Haram

• Many Boko Haram sect killed

ABUJA—The military, yesterday, engaged the Boko Haram terrorists in a fierce battle at Vimtim, the home town of the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, inflicting heavy casualties on the insurgents. At the end of the gun battle, the troops who moved in from the 1 Division Kaduna, 3 Division Jos and TRADOC, Minna killed 40 sect members and also succeeded in reclaiming Michika, Uba and Gulak towns from the terrorists.

Giving details of what transpired, the source said, the terrorists encircled the troops from all angles of Vimtim as the troops concentrated in the city centre and a gun battle ensued. Unknown to them, the newly deployed soldiers arrived and joined the battle, taking on the terrorists from behind leading to killing of over 40 insurgents while others fled.

The military also recovered 17 Hilux vehicles, General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs) mounted on their Hilux vehicles, and several Anti-Aircraft guns (AA weapons). Several surface-to-air missiles were destroyed while four were taken away by the troops.

The military source added that the initial retreat by soldiers from Mubi was to enable soldiers re-strategize and attack the insurgents in full force, adding that this was what made civilians  panic.

The situation, however, changed dramatically when troops from the other three states arrived and assisted in cutting the insurgents off in the confrontation that ensued.

Meanwhile, the Defence headquarters has also confirmed that three officers and two soldiers were injured in the bloody encounter. In separate tweets posted, yesterday, it said the injured officers and soldiers were currently receiving treatment at a military facility.

Vanguard gathered that the General Officer Commanding the 3rd Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Mohammed Zaruwa was personally directing the counter-insurgency operation.

The tweets read: “Counter Terrorist Troops have carried out an attack on insurgents in Mubi town, Adamawa State. In the fierce battle to root out the insurgents, scores of insurgents lost their lives, while several others escaped with fatal gunshot wounds.

“Two officers and three soldiers who were wounded in the battle are currently receiving treatment in a Military Medical Facility”.

 

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Nigerian military reclaims some towns from Boko Haram

Shot Obasanjo"s son eager to return to duty post

By Ehi Ekhator, Naija Center News

The son of the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, Lt. Col. Adeboye Obasanjo who was reportedly shot dead in Bazza on Monday during a fierce fight with the Islamic terrorists, Boko Haram, on their way to take back Michika Local Government area in Adamawa which has recently fallen under the control of the sect, has shown enthusiasm to return to his duty post.

Obasanjo’s son, Boko Haram

His statement fall in line with the military,the Public Relations Officer of FMC, Yola, Mallam Adam Dodo who had earlier said he was recovering, and the presidency also tweeted that he was fine as he was shot on the thigh, contrary to a section of the media that he was seriously wounded by the sect and was receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yola.

Obasanjo’s close friends had advised him to fly his son, Adeboye abroad for immediate medical treatment, but the former president refused.

The former deputy president, Atiku Abubakar visited the younger Obasanjo in the hospital. He commended his courage to go back to duty post and compared him with his father, who he said had similar braveness.

Atiku said “He was even marching before me, even as he was recovering from gunshot wounds,” a source recounted Atiku as stating.

Another dignitary who visited the Adeboye in the hospital was the Adamawa acting Govevernor, Umaru Fintiri.

The acting governor commeded the brave soldier and other Nigerian Armed Forces who he said are fighting bravely to defend the country’s integrity.

 

 

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Shot Obasanjo"s son eager to return to duty post

Boko Haram, Soldiers: Obasanjo"s son seriously injured in Mubi attack

MAIDUGURI – Son of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Lt Col Adeboye Obasanjo, an army engineer at the 3rd Division in Jos, Plateau State was shot yesterday by Boko Haram terrorists as he led soldiers on an offensive to reclaim Michika town in Adamawa State which fell into the hands of the insurgents. Twenty four soldiers were also reportedly killed during the encounter in which Lt Col Obasnjo was said to be seriously injured.

Obasanjo’s son, Boko Haram

The Defence Headquarters did not respond to inquiries seeking confirmation of the incident but a reliable military source, who confirmed the story, said the injured Obasanjo was receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital inYola, the state capital.

At the time of the incident which  took place at Baza, Major Gen J.S. Zaruwa, Colonel Victor Ebhaleme, who serves as the Brigade Commander of the 23rd Army brigade in Yola and Lieutenant Agwu were all together advancing towards Michika when Boko Haram fighters ambushed them and unleashed the deadly attack on the soldiers.

According to reports, the army also lost an armoured tank to the militants. As a result of the attack, Mubi town has practically been deserted following the closure of schools and massive retreat of soldiers from the city.

Meanwhile, as the insurgents overran Michika, security operatives were said to have fled when they ran out of ammunition on Sunday.

A competent source from Michika, who escaped the attack and now taking refuge in Gombi council area of Adamawa State, expressed worry over the deadly attacks carried out by terrorists in the North-East. He regretted that this has destabilized the economic fortune of the citizenry who had laboured in this rainy season but had to abandon their farmlands.

Another resident who fled from the attack on Michika, Mr. Tumba Philemon who is now residing with one of his relatives at the state university in Mubi, expressed fears that the insurgents may invade Mubi as the town is not far from Michika town which has been reclaimed by insurgents.

How Boko Haram wreaked havoc in Michika

He noted that the terrorists, who succeeded in chasing away security operatives in Madagali town, invaded neighbouring Michika on Sunday and wreaked havoc on innocent civilians and internally displaced persons before hoisting their black and white flags.

Philemon added that, he was contemplating leaving Mubi town when he discovered that the state university authorities in Mubi has given directive that the school will remain closed on Monday (yesterday) and urged students to go back to their various homes for safety as the school authorities could no longer guarantee their safety.

He said when he discovered that the university had been closed, he had no option than to relocate to another zone.

Over 20 insurgents killed, 3 soldiers injured in gun duel

Over 20 Boko Haram terrorists were killed by the troops of Nigerian Army on Sunday, while three soldiers sustained fatal injuries when the insurgents attacked the residence of former Commander  of Niger-Delta Special Task Force, Major General Tukur Buratai and Buratai Central Primary School in Buratai Town of Biu Local Government Area of Borno State.

A resident of the area, Mallam Idi Buratai said the gunmen, numbering over 50 in number, stormed the town on motorcycles and Hilux vehicles and attacked the residence of General Buratai and Buratai Primary school, and succeeded in burning them.

He said: “The soldiers guarding the residence of the former Task force commander, in collaboration with their colleagues from Biu military barracks and the members of vigilante group, repelled the attack, killing over 20 members of the sect”.

Mallam Idi said the terrorists also succeeded in burning all mobile network masts in the town, adding that the terrorists, who stormed the town at about 9:30am on Sunday, came through Buni-Yadi, the town captured by the insurgents in Yobe State last month.

A resident of the town, who fled to Biu, Bukar Buba said the soldiers guarding the residence of the Army General successfully repelled the attacked, where many insurgents were killed, adding that they however fled with three vehicles inlcuding a military vehicle, noting that the three soldiers that sustained injuries later died at Biu general hospital while receiving treatment.

Confirming the incident, the District Head of Buratai, Alhaji Maina Garga said the insurgents attacked the residence of General Buratai but the soldiers guarding the house successful repelled the attack, killing many of the insurgents, while three soldiers sustained injuries.

He said normalcy has since return to the town, as the soldiers guarding the residence of General Buratai got prompt re-enforcement from Biu Military Barracks.

Boko Haram’s strongholds in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe

Altogether, Boko Haram terrorists are now in control of six local governments in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. In Borno, the insurgents have taken over and hoisted their flags in Gwoza, Gamboru-Ngala and Banki local governments. Bama and Damboa which were earlier taken over by the insurgents had been reclaimed by the military. In Adamawa, the insurgents are in control of  Michika and Gulak local governments, while in Yobe, they have taken over Buni-Yadi Local Government.

 

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Boko Haram, Soldiers: Obasanjo"s son seriously injured in Mubi attack

Breaking: Soldiers battle insurgents to regain Mubi, others

Nigerian soldiers are turning back fleeing residents of Mubi in Adamawa State as they engage Boko Haram insurgents in an attempt to regain the town.

The soldiers are also said to be engaging in a fierce battle with members of the sect all through Sunday night and Monday morning to regain full control of Michika.

Fighter jets are bombing the hideouts of the insurgents while foot soldiers battle their locations around Michika local government area  secretariat.

Executive Director of Stefanos, Mr. Mark Lipdo, quoting military sources in the battle field, said that  the military are turning back Nigerians running out of Mubi in reaction to the news of insurgents approaching Mubi town.

A curfew is now in place to enable the military restore order as reports say that the military are gaining ground over the insurgents.

Details later.

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Breaking: Soldiers battle insurgents to regain Mubi, others