Nigeria’s army said it recaptured the northeastern town of Gamboru Ngala, which borders Cameroon,from Boko Haram Islamist militants.
“Troops are now busy with clearing and mopping up,” the army said on its Twitter account Tuesday.
The Nigerian army said in July there was no area in the northeastern state of Borno that was still under the control of Boko Haram, after a regional military push.
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Boko Haram militants retook the town of Marte in Borno state, which had been liberated in February, the state deputy governor said.
“It is sad as we have been made to understand that Marte is today completely fallen under the control of the insurgents, which to us is a very huge set back,” Borno’s deputy governor Zannah Umar Mustapha said.
The recapture of the town followed two strikes this week on state capital Maiduguri, which left at least 12 people dead.
Suspected militants also attacked the village of Kojiti, killing seven people in the Madagali local government of neighbouring Adamawa state. It had been cleared of the Islamist militant group in late February.
Boko Haram took over a territory larger than Belgium last year, killing thousands of people and displacing some 1.5 million. The group’s six-year insurgency is part of its bid to establish an Islamist state.
It took the combined efforts of Nigerian, Chadian and Nigerien troops to push them out of most of the areas, while Cameroon repelled border attacks.
The Sambisa forest reserve remains their last major stronghold. “Our thinking was that every other place should have been blocked so that the insurgency would be curtailed to a restricted area,” Mustapha said. “But that has not been the case because the insurgents have been fleeing to other communities.”
Credit: Reuters
The military announced it is now in full control of Mubi, Gombi, Maiha and Hong local government areas of Adamawa State earlier captured by the Boko Haram insurgents mid last month.
The announcement came on a day President Goodluck Jonathan commended the nation’s armed forces for their courage and sacrifices in the war against insurgency in parts of the country even as he assured that the Federal Government was working hard to improve security in the North-East ahead next year’s elections.
On the recaptured council areas on Adamawa, an army officer (who did not want his name in print) who conducted newsmen round the council areas weekend said the troops in collaboration with other security agencies chased out the insurgents).
The officer said the tour with the journalists was necessary to debunk insinuation that the insurgents were still in the areas and more importantly to assure residents of the affected areas that their places were safe, well protected and fortified for them to return to their homes.
Credit: Vanguard Nigeria
