by ‘Jola Sotubo

The town of Chibok in Borno, where over 200 girls were kidnapped in April, is in the news again.

Boko Haram insurgents were said to have invaded the area but were overpowered by the Nigeria Vigilante Group. 8 insurgents were killed in the ambush.

The early morning attack resulted in a shootout between the 2 sides in Kwarangilam in the Chibok Local Government Area.

Leadership reports:

The gunmen had crept upon the sleeping residents with the intention of carrying out another massacre, but were shocked to be encountered by shootings from the operatives of the vigilantes who laid in counter ambush.

Kwarangilam is 15 kilometres away from Chibok, the town where over 200 schoolgirls were abducted in April this year.

Briefing LEADERSHIP about the incident, the state chairman of Nigeria Vigilante Group, Adamsi Tar, and the spokesman of the group, Muhammed Gava, also revealed that their men were able to arrest one of the insurgents alive and had since handed him over to the soldiers in Chibok town.

The vigilante leaders told LEADERSHIP that “it was a successful operation that we had in Chibok local government today (yesterday) Monday. When the attackers came at about 3am, our men were already hinted and had been waiting all nights to confront them.

“When they started by setting fire on the houses, our men began to shoot from their hideouts and they have been able to kill eight of them using our local dane guns. The gunmen were confused because they did not know from which direction the firing was coming; and when they sensed more danger, they decided to flee; but our men were able to arrest one of the attackers alive and shot dead eight others.”

They further said that the insurgents were able to burn down a couple of houses as well as the lodge of the vigilante operatives.

“Our members have lost most of their belongings in the fire, especially their uniforms, because at night we don’t wear uniforms”, said Gava.

“We have said it time and again that we need better weapons; we need vehicles and other accessories that would make our jobs better. If we can get better arms, who is Boko Haram that would hold us to ransom”, said the vigilante commander, Tar.