Boko Haram launched yet another massive onslaught on Adamawa’s second largest and commercial nerve centre yesterday. Mubi streets were strewn with bodies.
Another border town in Borno State was also attacked in actions that showed that the “ceasefire” announced on October 17 by Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh might have collapsed.
The CDS said after talks in Saudi Arabia, the sect had agreed to a ceasefire. He also ordered troops to respect the agreement and not fire at the sect’s fighters.
Freedom for the 219 abducted Chibok girls was on the card. All expected they would be released after the talks, being mediated by Chadian President Idris Derby, would have been fine-tuned in N’Djamena, the Chadian capital.
But there has been no let-up in the attacks by the insurgents.
Yesterday’s attack on Mubi was vicious. Troops fled as the insurgents stormed the 234 Nigerian Army Battalion in the town.
Hundreds of residents were killed; thousands fled. The sect’s fighters hoisted their flag at the palace of the Emir of Mubi. They burned down the police station and the Mubi Prison, which was built in 1920. All the inmates were set free.
Mubi is the hometown of the CDS. It also hosts many institutions of learning. Students fled to Yola, the state capital.
already, Magadali and Michika – other major town, in the state – are in the hands of the insurgents.
The Defence Headquarters last night launched a probe into why troops refused to confront the insurgents.
The Emir of Mubi, Alh. Abubakar Isa Ahmadu, was lucky; he has been in Yola since the initial raid of the Emirate in September
Access to Mubi had been difficult in the last eight hours because the insurgents held the town hostage.
According to a top source, the insurgents stormed Mubi in the afternoon and targeted the Army Battalion, police formations and the prison yard where they released many high-profile criminals.
The source said the insurgents overran the town because troops “withdrew” their services to leave the town vulnerable.
It was also learnt that some of the troops escaped to avoid being killed by the insurgents.
The source said: “The insurgents invaded Mubi at about 2.30pm on Wednesday. They went on the rampage, attacking 234 Army Battalion, police stations and the prison in Mubi.
“At the prison, which has a capacity of about 450 inmates, they set all the prisoners free. We did not know whether or not they got hints that some of their members were being detained there.
“While the people of Mubi were looking forward to assistance from the troops, they were nowhere to be found. There was no resistance from the troops.
“We learnt some of the troops also fled the town for fear of reprisals. You know the troops in September reclaimed Mubi from the insurgents and they killed many Boko Haram members.”
Another source spoke of insurgents being heavily armed.
“The insurgents have taken over the Emir’s palace and they have blocked all access roads to Mubi,” he said, adding: “Except for those who initially managed to escape, there is now a total siege on Mubi.”
Asked about the casualty figure, the source replied: “No one can say; the situation is tense. Our people are held hostage. The government should assist us.”
A military source accused the troops of indiscipline.
He said: “They had all the required arms and ammunition in terms of sophisticated logistics but they allowed the insurgents to have a field day.
“The question is why didn’t they fight? If the military now initiates court martial process, Nigerians will start complaining.”
Responding to a question, the source added: “The military will certainly flush out these insurgents from Mubi. A counter-plan has taken off to protect lives and property in the town.
“The military high command has started investigation into what could have prompted actual withdrawal of troops in that place.”
To another security source, the troops were probably complying with the ceasefire directive of the Federal Government.
“But this type of invasion requires self-defence. How can you be watching to see your house on fire? This is puzzling,” he said.
Fleeing residents said Air Force jets were pounding the insurgents as sounds of explosion and gunshots inundated the town.
More than 700,000 residents were caught unaware by the development and a mass movement of people overran the vehicular pressure towards the Republic of Cameroon.
Students of the Adamawa State University, Federal Polytechnic, Collage of Health Technology, College of Agriculture, College of Nursing and Midwifery, and those in the secondary schools were in a pathetic situation as they found themselves in the thick of the situation.
A fleeing resident, Mr Peters Joshua, who spoke to our reporter on telephone, said thousands of people left Mubi while others ran into the bush to escape the raging offensive of the sect.
‘’Thousands of people have deserted Mubi and neighboring towns as people scatter into various directions, with some heading towards Cameroon Republic as others headed for Yola and Maiha towns. Many ran into the bush,” Joshua said.
Another source said the insurgents overran Madagali down to Bazza, “ They are having a field day. I sneaked into Michika town to lift my aged mother, but surprisingly only insurgents are in the town; there were no soldiers around’’
Residents of Maiha town have also claimed seeing soldiers heading towards Yola as thousands of others who escaped from Mubi headed towards the town.
“We saw military vehicles fleeing towards Yola,’’ said a local source in Maiha.
The latest attack on Mubi is believed to be an attempt by insurgents to consolidate their grip on the Adamawa North Senatorial Zone, having captured Madagali and Michika local government areas about two months ago.
Residents of Uba town, sandwiched between Adamawa and Borno states, have reported that the insurgents forced troops to beat a retreat to Mubi en-route the town.
“We are scampering for our lives,” said Ahmad Garba, a resident of Mubi.
“They attacked the military barracks, police stations and the prison. As I am talking with you now, thousands of people have deserted Mubi and neighboring towns, some heading toward Cameroon Republic as others headed” south to Yola, the capital of Adamawa State, while others ran to hide in the bush,” he said.
P.P. Elisha, a spokesman for Adamawa State Governor Bala James Ngilari, confirmed that insurgents seized the town of Uba and pursued fleeing soldiers to Mubi.
In neighboring Borno State, the insurgents on Monday kidnapped dozens of boys, girls, men and women in attacks on Gava and Zalidva in Gwoza Local Government Area, according to a security official and a top official for a vigilante civilian group fighting the insurgents, Abbas Muhammed.
Local government official Modu Musa said the insurgents burned down more than 200 homes and set ablaze more than 300 vehicles, including trucks and tricycle taxis.
He and Muhammed said many people were killed in the attacks, but they could not give an approximate number. Residents of Mubi and Uba also reported many deaths.
Heavily armed fighters in all-terrain vehicles stormed the town of Kukawa, 180 kilometres from Borno State capital Maiduguri, and opened fire on police and a market.
Kukawa, near Lake Chad, has been repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram, forcing Nigeria’s state-run oil company to abandon prospecting and drilling.
The latest attack happened on Monday and was slow to emerge because telecommunications in Borno have been largely destroyed by five years of violence.
“They [the gunmen] killed several people, especially around the market, where traders had gone for commercial activities,” Kukawa Local Government chairperson Modu Musa told AFP.
“They burnt the whole market, the police station, government lodge, dozens of vehicles and most houses in the town in indiscriminate rocket and bomb attacks.”
Police officers in Kukawa initially intercepted the insurgents on the outskirts of the town and engaged them in a fight but were forced to retreat because of the gunmen’s superior firepower.
Hundreds of residents fled to Maiduguri, joining tens of thousands of others who have abandoned their homes and livelihoods as a result of sustained attacks in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.
Governor Ngilari asked the people of the state, particularly those in the affected areas, to remain calm as security agents are re mobilising to drive out Boko Haram.
‘’It’s unfortunate with this development His Excellency has met with security chiefs in the state.
‘’People should remain calm, security agents are on the top of situation,’’ Elisha, the director, Press and Public Affairs to the governor said.
The Army Public Relations Officer Captain Jaafaru Nuhu said they learnt of the development but he could not issue an official statement without clearance from his superiors.
Sources confirmed that the Boko Haram mounted their flags at the multi billion naira Mubi Emirate Council built in the late 1940s and ancient historical archives.
Another source said the bridge near the palace was destroyed. Commercial banks were attacked and burnt.
