The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Gamboru Ngala

  • Boko Haram lunches midnight attack in Maiduguri

    Boko Haram lunches midnight attack in Maiduguri

    …Eight suicide bombers killed

     

    The Police in Maiduguri have confirmed a suicide attack on a convoy of commercial cars at Muna garage in Maiduguri.

    The vehicles numbering about thirteen according to a statement issued by the State Police Spokesman DSP Victor Isuku, said the vehicles were awaiting security cover from military to depart to Gamboru Ngala on Friday when a suicide bomber sneaked and detonated his explosive ridden body in the midst of the trucks.

    The statement explained that the action triggered an unprecedented explosion which razed down the parked vehicles beyond recognition.

    The statement reads; “Yesterday at about 2318hrs,  a suicide bomber sneaked into the midst of 13 pick-up trucks loaded with goods along Maiduguri/Mafa road, said to be awaiting departure to Gamboru Ngala early hours  of today and detonated IEDs strapped on self. The resulting Explosion razed down the parked vehicles beyond recognition.

    EOD/Police patrol team were promptly deployed to the scene to restore safety & normalcy”.

    The police have however denied that some gunmen on motorcycle came shooting shortly after the suicide bomber attacked the convoy.

    The casualty figure from the attack is not yet clear as some unconfirmed reports believe many people may have been feared dead during the attack.

    About eight of the suicide bombers who lunched the attack on the vehicles were said to have died in the attack.

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the bombers mostly women numbering eight in number were loaded in a Volkswagen Golf from Muna community.

    The spokesman for NEMA Sani Datti in a statement informed that the bombers attempted to run through a military check Point, adding that seven civilian JTF operatives were wounded in the event.

    The statement reads; “Yesterday (Thursday) at around 11:00pm, Boko Haram members attempted to attack Maiduguri. They came through Mafa- Dikwa road along Muna community. The suicide bombers came in a Volkswagen Golf carrying eight suicide bombers most of whom were female teenagers.

    “The driver attempted to over-run the security post where the security personnel’s were stationed, but few of the personnel’s sustained minor injuries, while the remaining bombers detonated their IED in some of the communities in Muna Dalti settlement.

    “Seven (7) Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) sustained minor injuries and were taken to University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH).  Some of the suicide bombers found their way to a place where people gathered with their trucks loaded with goods for onward movement to Mafa, Dikwa and Ngala LGAs.

    “Over 14 loaded trucks were burnt by the suicide bombers though no casualty was recorded. The seven corpses of the suicide bombers were evacuated to the State Specialist Hospital by NEMA and Borno SEMA team,” the statement said.

     

  • Troops recapture Gamboru Ngala from Boko Haram

    Troops recapture Gamboru Ngala from Boko Haram

    The Army yesterday confirmed the recapture of Gamboru Ngala, Borno State, by troops of the Army 7 Division.

    A statement by the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said troops had begun clearing and mopping up patrol, following the recapture of the town previously held by the insurgents.

    “The Nigerian Army has retaken the economic and strategic town of Gamboru Ngala, Borno State, from the Boko Haram terrorists group.

    “The triumphant troops are now busy with clearing and mopping up patrols,” the statement said.

    “Col. Usman said details of the feat would soon be made public as troops involved in the operations were in high spirits,” the statement said.

    NAN recalls that troops of Army 7 Division strike group on August 23 advanced to recapture the town, having liberated Dikwa from the insurgents.

     

  • Villagers ‘kill 200’ Boko Haram members in Borno

    Residents of three villages in Borno State have repelled an attack by suspected Boko Haram fighters, an eyewitness told the BBC.

    Report said at least 200 militants were killed during the fighting in the Kala-Balge district of the state, he said.

    The witness said the residents had formed a vigilante group.

    The area which came under attack is not far from the site of a market massacre last week in which more than 300 people were killed.

    The suspected Boko Haram militants overran the town of Gamboru Ngala 10 days ago on its busy market day in a killing and looting raid which lasted about five hours.

    A security official told the Associated Press news agency that the vigilantes in Kala-Balge, which is near Lake Chad, were ready for a fight after learning of an impending Boko Haram attack on Tuesday.

    The eyewitness, who spoke to the BBC Hausa Service on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, said the area was littered with bodies after the fighting.
    He had seen 50 bodies in one village and 150 in another village, all of which he thought were the corpses of militants.

    Residents also seized three cars and a military vehicle from the attackers, he said.

  • Gunfire, explosions rock Borno town

    Gunfire and explosions shook a town in Borno State on Tuesday while soldiers slapped a round-the-clock curfew on another in the region hit by waves of insurgent attacks, the military and residents said.

    Clashes broke out in the town of Gamboru Ngala on the border with Cameroon on Monday night and continued on Tuesday, a resident said. The military had not commented on the situation there and details remained unclear.

    Gamboru Ngala is the headquarters of the Ngala local government area of Borno State.

    The situations in the two towns did not appear to be linked as they are located hundreds of kilometres apart in Africa’s most populous nation.

    In Gamboru Ngala, one resident told AFP the fighting began after someone who runs errands for immigration officers was shot and wounded.

    “We have been bombarded with explosions and sounds of gunfire since yesterday evening,” the resident told AFP.

    Residents over the border in Cameroon also reported hearing gunshots.

    In Potiskum, residents said soldiers were conducting house-to-house searches in two neighbourhoods and word had spread in the town that troops were looking for high-profile members of Boko Haram sect.