The Nigerian troops
seem to have abandoned the ceasefire between the Federal Government
and Boko Haram as they killed 25 insurgents
in Damboa, Borno State on Sunday.
Boko Haram was the
first to abandon the ceasefire when it attacked two communities in Borno and
Adamawa states.
Damboa was for
several days in July under the control of the insurgents who killed
some soldiers, including a Lieutenant Colonel. They had also
hoisted their flag in the community which is only about 85 kilometres away from
Maiduguri.
The military
however succeeded in chasing them but on Sunday night, the terrorists staged a
comeback but were overpowered by the “military during an exchange of gunfire.”
Boko Haram had on
Friday, the day the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal, Alex Badeh,
announced the ceasefire, attacked Shafa and Sina in Borno and Adamawa states.
Just as the attacks
were viewed as a breach of the ceasefire, the insurgents struck again in Borno
State where they captured Abadam village and beheaded six people on the
Biu-Garkida Road on Sunday.
A military source
was however quick to dismiss the belief that attacks by the insurgents amounted
to a collapse of the ceasefire.
He had said, “One
cannot say the peace deal has been violated; it is the nature of most terrorist
organisations to act that way, and it should be expected because they have
several layers of operation.’’
But findings on
Sunday by The PUNCH
had revealed that the Federal Government might have entered into the deal with
a faction of the group interested in ending the insurgency in the North-East.
A Federal
Government team is to meet on Tuesday (today) with representatives of the sect
in Ndjamena to conclude the talks being brokered by Chadian President Idris
Deby.
The military
source, who spoke with our correspondent on the Damboa incident, said there was
no way the troops on the ground would have watched the militants
overrun the community without confronting them.
“Since we just
couldn’t watch them overrun the town again, we engaged them in
crossfire,’’ he said.
The
source, who did not want his name in print because he was not
authorised to speak on the development, added, “We were able to effectively
repel them. Twenty five of them were killed during the
heavy shoot-out. We also recovered several arms and ammunition as well
as a Buffalo Armoured Personnel Carrier which they
abandoned in the heat of the confrontation that lasted some hours.”
He was however
silent on the casualty figure.
In Maiduguri,
a vigilante member, Abba Mohammed, said the insurgents invaded the
already deserted Damboa at about 5pm on Sunday.
He
said, “Some of our members in Damboa informed us early this
(Monday) morning that the attack was repelled and that more than two
dozen insurgents were killed.
“We were told that
the insurgents came from the direction of Sambisa Forest Reserve and drove in
several pickup vans and vehicles that looked like APC.
“They engaged the
military in a massive shoot-out for some hours but when
about 25 of them were killed, they had to pull back towards the
direction they came from.”
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