Barely three days after the announcement of an alleged ceasefire agreement between the Federal Government and Boko Haram, no fewer than 25 members of the sect, have been reportedly killed in fierce battle with soldiers in Damboa town of Borno State.
After being repelled by troops in Sabon Gida town which is also in Damboa LGA, they launched an attack on Damboa at about 5pm on Sunday, October 19, with an attempt to wreck havoc on residents who had just returned after fleeing the town due to their attacks, Leadership reports.
A senior official of Damboa is of the opinion that the sect that attacked Damboa were different from the ones repelled at Sabon Gida.
“From the information I have, the insurgents were armed to the teeth and the Nigerian soldiers were also well equipped. Our prayer is that God should protect both the army and our helpless civilians who have started settling in their homes after months of distress,” he said.
An official of the Nigerian Vigilante Group, Abbas Muhammad Gava said the insurgents came from the direction of Sambisa forest in several pickup vans and some military-like armoured personnel carriers.
Confirming the incident, a top security chief in Borno state who pleaded anonymity as it was not his job to talk to press on this matter, said it was another bad day for the dreaded sect as the soldiers effectively repelled them and killed 25 of them.
“Our soldiers were up to their task there as they effectively repelled them and gunned down 25 of them, while several others fled with injuries.
“We recovered several ammunitions including a ‘Buffallo Armoured Personnel Carrier, from them,” he explained.
He added that since the insurgents have refused to honour the ceasefire agreement, they were going to deal with them.
The security official said: “Whether with ceasefire or not, we are going to deal with those bastards until we see their miserable end by the grace of God. Nigeria cannot be subdued by some bunch of miscreants, enough is enough.”
Damboa is 85km south-west of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital and the gateway to Sambissa forest where Boko Haram has its largest camp.
Boko Haram, a dreaded Islamist sect has been wreaking havoc across the country, especially in the North eastern part.
Of late, Nigerian troops have been repelling the insurgents, killing many and also taking hold of some of their ammunition.
On Friday, October 15, Boko Haram and the Federal government reportedly reached an agreement to ceasefire.
This announcement has been trailed with a lot of controversies as some have doubted it. A top journalist with links to Kingpins of Boko Haram, Ahmad Salkida has come out to fault the agreement, saying its a scam.
According to report, the ceasefire agreement has divided the sect into two factions, one wants the violence to end while the other doesn’t.
Meanwhile, the terrorist group were said to have kidnapped no fewer than 40 women in a recent attack carried out in Wagga village, Adamawa State.
source naij
posted Maduka Tony