by James Sambo

 

Boko Haram insurgents have seized the base of the Multi-National Joint Task Force, (MNJTF), in Baga, Borno State.

A senior security official who confirmed the incident to journalists in Maiduguri, disclosed that the attack on the key multinational military base was fierce, but the soldiers were not able to successfully repel the insurgents, who wreaked havoc in the base.

An official, who spoke anonymously, revealed that the attack on the base commenced at about 5 a.m. on Saturday, January 3.

“We got the information that Boko Haram insurgents went and dislodged the Multinational Joint Task Force there, after a fierce gun battle that lasted for hours.”

“For now, all we can say is that it was a bad outing for the soldiers because the base was practically dislodged but one cannot say specifically the extent of damaged caused on the base and personnel”.

A resident of the town recounted to BBC, some details of the attack.

“Yesterday at around 5 a.m, we were woken up by heavy gunshots, and we couldn’t identify where the shots were coming from. They came through the north, the west and from the southern part of the town because the eastern part is only water. So, when we [went] towards the western part, we saw heavily armed Boko Haram men coming towards us.”

“The soldiers were trying to repel the attack but that wasn’t going to happen because a lot of the soldiers were without their guns and some were running into the town. When you see soldiers running away into the town – what are you to do, other than to just run away as well?”

Meanwhile, Senator Maina Maaji Lawan, representing Borno North, stated that people were forced to run ‘helter skelter’, into the forest and the desert to escape the attack.

“We are very dispirited. There is definitely something wrong that makes our military abandon their posts each time there is an attack from Boko Haram,” the senator said.

Information on the casualty and damage done during the attack is yet to be ascertained.