Boko Haram regroups …Targets Maiduguri

By TIMOTHY OLANREWAJU, Maiduguri on October 5, 2014 · COVER

Barely a week after Boko Ha­ram suffered a major setback in clashes with Nigerian troops in North-east Borno losing over a hundred of its fighters, the insurgents have again regrouped to launch massive attack on Maiduguri during the Muslim Eid-el-Kabir cel­ebration.
A security source told Sunday Sun weekend that Boko Haram planned coordinated attacks on Maiduguri with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) after several failed attempts to make an inroad into the state capital where many of its members were ei­ther apprehended or chased out since June 2013.
“We may have succeeded in track­ing down some of the terrorists and frustrating their moves especially with the successes recorded in Kon­duga by our troops but intelligence has shown the terrorists aren’t giv­ing up. In fact, they are regrouping to launch more attacks especially in Maiduguri,” the source, a senior mili­tary officer hinted.

Some residents of Maiduguri also claimed the insurgents were sighted midweek near a settlement at Abad­am Local Government in the northern part of the state. They claimed they saw some Boko Haram men in three Hilux vehicles with guns mounted on them moving in the bush.
Residents of Maiduguri said they were yet to ascertain why the insur­gency in the state and the neighbour­ing Adamawa and Yobe states had continued unabated despite the kill­ing of Boko Haram men by security forces in battles.
Mustapha Kaga, who has been fol­lowing the five-year insurgency of­fers a clue: “Boko Haram usually conscripts young men and boys dur­ing attacks on towns and villages. They did the same thing when they came to attack a Kaga community re­cently. As many of them were killed during attacks, they will still bring more from those they have kidnapped to fight for them,” Kaga, a youth vigi­lante told Sunday Sun.
Already, the military has intensi­fied security measures including surveillances and patrols during the Muslims celebration as more troops were deployed in major roads and public buildings in the state. The stop, search and checks hitherto left in the hands of youth volunteers had been taken over by soldiers in most parts of the capital since last Thursday. Residents observed their Sallah under heavy security. Military jets also hov­ered around the capital on Saturday on surveillance.
The military also announced a four-day ban on vehicular movements throughout the Eid-el-Kabir celebra­tion commencing Friday evening till Monday.
Also in Yobe, authorities equally banned the movement of vehicles into and out of the state since Thurs­day evening as hundreds of travellers passing through the Maiduguri-Dam­aturu highway to other parts of the country were prevented from enter­ing the state. Yobe State government through its Commissioner of Infor­mation, Alhaji Goni Fika said the de­cision was taken by the government with security agencies in the state as a measure to ensure hitch-free sallah celebration in the area.