No fewer than 50 members of the Boko Haram sect were killed in their failed bid to advance on Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, a security source revealed on Tuesday.
The military source said the soldiers from the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, halted the advance of the insurgents, who attempted to capture Konduga, the closest town to Maiduguri.
Konduga is about 60 kilometres from Maiduguri, and the insurgents have tried about five times to capture it without success in the last five months.
Speaking on the incident, a leader of the youth vigilante group, who craved anonymity in an interview with our correspondent, claimed that the insurgents were turned back in Konduga by a joint team of the military and youth vigilante, with the sect losing several of their men.
He said the battle raged for about three hours from 10.30pm on Monday to about 1am on Tuesday.
The source, who spoke on the telephone, said, “Nobody can tell you the exact number of the insurgents killed but we have killed many of them, while others escaped with bullets wounds.
“Scores of the insurgents met their waterloo when they attempted to attack Konduga town on Monday. They came in Hilux vehicles and motorcycles.”
The youth vigilante members added that it was not however a success story in another encounter with the terrorist group, lamenting that an attempt to dislodge the sect from Damasak, captured a week ago, was not a success story.
He said, “In an attempt to reclaim Damasak, a soldier and member of the Civilian JTF were killed in an ambush.”
The source, who spoke on Tuesday afternoon, said, “Four members of the Civilian JTF are still missing.”
punchnews