SAN FRANCISCO, April 17, (THEWILL) – Rampaging Boko Haram gunmen Wednesday played a fast one on federal troops planning to rout them completely from Gwoza in Borno State as they threw explosives at the military, destabilising them before attacking a civilian settlement where they killed no fewer than 11 persons and injured some soldiers.
A military source, who confirmed the latest attack to THEWILL, said those killed were civilians recently rescued by soldiers during the recapture of the town from the insurgents.
The source who asked not be named because he is not authorised to speak on the matter, disclosed that the civilians had taken refuge at the mountain top in Gwoza near the border with Cameroon during the reign of terror by Boko Haram in Gwoza but were recently evacuated by the military following the liberation of the town.
The source, who disclosed that the civilians were taken to a perceived safer place by the military who were planning a further clampdown on the insurgents, however said: “It was unfortunate that while they were kept at a supposed safe place at the shore of the hill with some military troops stationed there to guard them, some Boko Haram struck on Wednesday, and killed at least 11 of the people.”
Corroborating the account, an indigene of Gwoza resident in Maiduguri, Adam Yusuf, said one of the persons reported killed in the attack was well known to him as he disclosed that he got to know of the attack from a soldier friend Friday morning after he returned from the town.
According to Yusuf, “A soldier friend of mine who came to Maiduguri with some wounded soldiers told me about the attack because a friend of mine known to him was lost.”
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