Two vigilantes killed as ISWAP attacks Yobe, Borno communities

Two members of a local vigilante group have been killed while repelling an attack on their community in Yobe state.

According to Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, the attack took place around 1am on Saturday.

Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP) fighters reportedly invaded a vigilante post in Katarko community, around the Gujba axis of Yobe. 

A military source was quoted as saying the vigilante group engaged the terrorists for about 15 minutes before they later got support from the troops of the 27 Task Force Brigade.

The source said the troops successfully repelled the attack but two vigilante members “paid the supreme price”.  

“Terrorist fatalities were uncertain as traces of blood indicated that they evacuated neutralised terrorists,” the source said.

In a similar encounter, some ISWAP fighters also attacked troops at a checkpoint between Jakana and Mainok in Borno state.

Two of the terrorists were gunned down while others fled “following superior firepower” from the troops. 

Zagazola Makama said one soldier was wounded during the gun duel. 

Also, the troops foiled an attack by ISWAP fighters — packed in two gun trucks and 20 motorcycles — along Monguno-Maiduguri Road in Borno. 

Zagazola Makama said the casualty figure recorded by the terrorist group is yet to be ascertained.