Olukolade: Soldiers firming up to retake Damboa

The Nigerian Army says it is fully prepared to exterminate members of the Boko Haram sect from Damboa local government area of Borno State, and also restore normalcy to an area that has come under heavy attack in the last few weeks.

As reported by the BBC, the sect had taken advantage of the absence of soldiers — they reportedly fled the area after suffering heavy losses during an attack by insurgents on a military location — to mount roadblocks at strategic places across the area and also announce dominance by hoisting its flag across different communities in the local government.

On Saturday, residents of the local government had appealed to Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Garbai, the Shehu of Borno, to assist them in pressuring the government to redeploy troops to the troubled region.

Head of the local vigilante group, Alhaji Kassim Ciroma, also told TheCable last week that his group could not withstand the force of Boko Haram.

“Over 300 Boko Haram men are attacking villages in Damboa now and we cannot challenge them,” he said.

“No security, no soldier, no police — only members of civilian JTF. We are just here. Boko Haram has taken over everywhere: Sambisa area, Damboa Road. Everywhere. They have finished us … We want government to take action.”

But speaking during a press briefing in Abuja on Monday evening, defence spokesman, Major General Chris Olukolade, said efforts are being made to dislodge the sect in order to restore normalcy.

“We are firming up our deployment in that general area,” Olukolade said.

“Right now, we are setting up activities to reverse any form of insecurity that is noted around there, The Nigerian military will not concede any portion of this country to any such group.”

Also on Monday, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) disclosed that the insecurity situation in Damboa has forced an estimated 15,204 residents to seek refuge in Biu and Maiduguri in Borno state, and Goniri in Gujba local government area of Yobe state.

Abdulkadir Ibrahim, information officer of NEMA in the northeast said the agency is organising relief materials for the displaced persons.