SAN FRANCISCO, September 01, (THEWILL) –Militants fighting for the terrorist group Boko Haram Monday failed in their bid to capture Bama, Borno’s second most populous town as Nigerian troops repelled the attack killing at least 56 insurgents.
Bama has an estimated population of 500, 000 (five hundred thousand) residents.
Sources told THEWILL that at least 200 Boko Haram fighters with heavy weaponry raided Bama in the early hours of Monday.
The Boko Haram insurgents had declared Gwoza, another populous town in Borno, an Islamic Caliphate last week after its capture.
They however met their Waterloo Monday morning when they attempted to seize Bama, situated at about 78 kilometres away from Maiduguri.
Security sources craving anonymity disclosed that the insurgents were given a fight of their lives by the military which repelled the terrorists’ advance as 59 out of about 200 insurgents engaged in the fierce battle were felled.
Another 30 Boko Haram insurgents also sustained varying degrees of injuries before being forced to beat a retreat through the bush with some others fleeing through the highway.
Narrating their experience , local residents said they were woken up by the heavy bombardment as deafening gunshots rent the air.
“Everyone was thrown into pandemonium as we continue to hear deafening gunshots and we were later to hear that over 200 Boko Haram terrorists attempted to capture the town.
“We also learnt that they stormed the town through Bama-Banki-Gwoza Road but they were intercepted by gallant military troops near the Bama Mobile Police Unit located about 5 kilometres away from the centre of the town.
“They were believed to have tactically attempted to enter Bama town in a convoy of military vehicles and motorcycles, dressed in military uniform and armed with sophisticated weapons and improvised explosive devices (IEDs),” a local resident said.
According to the source, sophisticated weapons such as Rocket Propelled Grenades RPGs as well as Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were freely deployed during the battle as many residents fled the town through the bush paths to neighbouring villages such as Konduga and even Maiduguri.
One of the residents, Malam Mohammed Bunu Ahmed, said: “There was an attempt by the insurgents to enter Bama and capture it as they did to Gwoza few weeks back .
“But thank God for the good efforts of the military troops stationed near the mobile police unit who repelled the attack with the assistance of their colleagues from the 21 Brigade of the Nigerian Army who gallantly succeeded in repelling them after successfully killing over 59 insurgents and injuring over 30.”
According to him, “the whole episode was so scary, many of our people had to flee to Maiduguri for safety while some stayed back in Konduga with some others still taking refuge in some villages around the town.”
Another resident of Bama, Alhaji Masa Bukar, who managed to escape the attack said in Maiduguri that they were waiting for the intervention of National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) and state government as well as other well meaning members of the society.
“We are here because we woke up this morning to the sound of explosion enveloping us. As early as during the Subh prayer (4:45am), we heard gunshots and RPGs shots around the Technical College and Mobile Police Unit police along Banki road.
“We were advised by the military and Civilian JTF to leave the town so as to allow them confront the insurgents with minimum collateral damage. This made us flee the town,” he explained.
According to him, many fleeing residents of the town had to stop along the way in Kawuri or Goniri or Konduga, “but we decided to come to straightaway to Maiduguri where the military presence is high,” adding “ We were very afraid.”
He further disclosed that as they were heading towards Maiduguri, they saw a convoy of military armoured tank moving towards Bama “and we believe that the battle should still be on.”
A local chief in Bama , craving anonymity, also said in Maiduguri that Bama residents are quite excited with the gallantry of the military in the area and relocation of the 21 Armoured Brigade Battalion to Bama. He said if not for the gallantry of the soldiers, the town would have fallen to the Boko Haram caliphate.
“Even the reinforcement being done by the GOC now is a clear indication that the military is serious and ready to rid the state of the insurgency unlike in the past,” he said.
Efforts to confirm the development from the spokesman of the 7 Division of Nigerian Army, Maiduguri, Colonel Usman Sani, proved abortive as his mobile phone was switched off when filing this report.
However, Maiduguri residents living along Bama road, confirmed seeing a convoy of over 25 military vehicles and armoured cars moving towards Bama town from Maiduguri between 10.30 am and 11.30am on Monday.
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