Boko Haram insurgents yesterday overrun a Police Force Mobile
Training camp in the southeast part of Borno State, even as soldiers
moved to dislodge them from the area, a security source said.Heavily
armed terrorists in three Toyota Hilux vehicles moved into the training
camp at Limankara, a hilly town near Gwoza, about 183 kilometres from
Maiduguri, the state capital, shooting sporadically for about an hour.
The source said the few policemen on ground made attempts to repel the
attack, but retreated due to the large number of the invaders.
The insurgents stormed the police camp in the afternoon, fired rocket
propelled grenades into the camp apparently to destabilize the
policemen. “There were efforts by our colleagues to repel the attack,
but they were many in number,” a police source said.
However, the terrorists burnt some facilities at the camp. Sources also said they have set up their base within the camp, a claim which cannot be verified as at press time.
A resident who fled to Madagali in neigbhouring Adamawa State with other victims following the August 7 Boko Haram attack on Gwoza said many residents were apprehensive as heavy gunshots were heard coming from Limankara area. “We were very scared and thought Boko Haram insurgents were coming to invade Madagali again,” the source who did not want his name in print, said.
A police officer said the attack and taking-over of the police training camp were a big setback to the force that had lost most of their facilities and formations since the first Boko Haram uprising in 2009. Last month, Boko Haram attacked a military base in the muddy town of Damboa, leading to the death of some soldiers and policemen while over 15,000 residents were displaced. The attack came barely a year after the insurgents threw explosives at a new military base in Beneshiek, killing five soldiers.
The 79 Composite Group of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) became the target of the terrorists on December 2, 2013, as almost all the facilities and grounded aircraft at the base were torched. The insurgents returned again to Maiduguri in March this year in a manner described as a brazen assault on military facilities.
Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said it has registered 6,566 Boko Haram victims at some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps at Madagali and Mubi, Adamawa State. The people were displaced from Gwoza Local Government Area following attacks on thier communities by the terrorists.
A statement signed by an official of the Maiduguri office of the agency, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, said NEMA personnel in the North-East zonal office led by the Coordinator, Alhaji Muhamed Kanar, “were in Central Primary School, Madagali town in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State to deliver relief itmes to the victims from Gwoza LGA, notwithstanding the recent attack on the mobile training shool which is less than 20 kilometres from Madagali town.”
However, the terrorists burnt some facilities at the camp. Sources also said they have set up their base within the camp, a claim which cannot be verified as at press time.
A resident who fled to Madagali in neigbhouring Adamawa State with other victims following the August 7 Boko Haram attack on Gwoza said many residents were apprehensive as heavy gunshots were heard coming from Limankara area. “We were very scared and thought Boko Haram insurgents were coming to invade Madagali again,” the source who did not want his name in print, said.
A police officer said the attack and taking-over of the police training camp were a big setback to the force that had lost most of their facilities and formations since the first Boko Haram uprising in 2009. Last month, Boko Haram attacked a military base in the muddy town of Damboa, leading to the death of some soldiers and policemen while over 15,000 residents were displaced. The attack came barely a year after the insurgents threw explosives at a new military base in Beneshiek, killing five soldiers.
The 79 Composite Group of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) became the target of the terrorists on December 2, 2013, as almost all the facilities and grounded aircraft at the base were torched. The insurgents returned again to Maiduguri in March this year in a manner described as a brazen assault on military facilities.
Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said it has registered 6,566 Boko Haram victims at some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps at Madagali and Mubi, Adamawa State. The people were displaced from Gwoza Local Government Area following attacks on thier communities by the terrorists.
A statement signed by an official of the Maiduguri office of the agency, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, said NEMA personnel in the North-East zonal office led by the Coordinator, Alhaji Muhamed Kanar, “were in Central Primary School, Madagali town in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State to deliver relief itmes to the victims from Gwoza LGA, notwithstanding the recent attack on the mobile training shool which is less than 20 kilometres from Madagali town.”
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Boko Haram overruns police training camp |
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