TheCable

Residents are leaving Mubi en masse (pictured) after Boko Haram took control of the Adamawa town on Thursday, killing many people.

Some trekked for 30 miles through the bush to get to safe pick-up points, according to witnesses.

Some of the militants claimed to have taken over the house of Alex Badeh, an air chief marshal and chief of defence staff, in conversation with locals.

There is yet no official statement from the defence headquarters on the development, although Nigerian troops are said to be preparing to launch a counter-offensive.

The militants are said to have taken over the army formation in Mubi, seizing the armoury that has just been restocked.

Reuters, on Thursday, quoted a security source as saying that the insurgents stormed Mubi on Wednesday but the town only fell on Thursday, after which the insurgents hoisted their black flag over the palace of the traditional ruler.

Witnesses said the insurgents robbed banks, burnt the main market, destroyed the palace, and killed “dozens”, including a university lecturer and all members of his family.

Stephen Adaji, a student, told the agency that he had been hiding in the bush since Wednesday morning when the fighting began, until a farmer helped him cross to a nearby village, paving the way for him to flee to Yola.

“We couldn’t sleep in the bush because of the fear Boko Haram may get us,” he said.

“We were so scared; shooting was going on throughout the night and they often shouted Allah Akbar (God is greatest).”

Abdul Ibrahim, a spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the northeast, said extra personnel had been sent to help in managing people fleeing to relatively-safe Yola, capital of the state.

“I saw many dead bodies in the bush and many injured people were lying helpless especially children and women,” James Audu, another student, said.

“They killed a lecturer and his entire family. I saw them get shot.”

While there have been a number of Boko Haram attacks since the ceasefire deal announced on October 17, it is the first time since the deal that the sect has seized a town.