• Terrorists rain grenades on city
• Degrading Boko Haram unshakeable, says President
At least 37 lives were lost yesterday in the latest terror attacks on Maiduguri by Boko Haram, 24 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to crush the “mindless” and “godless” group, and ordered the military high command to relocate to the Borno State capital until the terrorists are brought to their knees.
Twenty seven people, 20 of them insurgents, were killed in a midnight attempt by them to invade the city.
The remaining 10 were feared killed in a suicide bombing inside a mosque, close to the popular Monday Market which has been repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram.
Scores of other people were wounded in the two incidents.
But Buhari, in a swift reaction to the attacks said Boko Haram would soon be history.
The insurgents first struck at about 00.25 yesterday about 13 hours after President Buhari ordered the military high command to relocate to the Borno State capital.
Soldiers engaged the invaders in a shootout and repelled them.
Military sources said the terrorists had planned to enter Maiduguri through the bushes around Damboa in the south-western part of the state capital but could not succeed.
They then resorted to the use of Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs).
The firing raged until about 3.30am leaving traumatized residents unable to sleep or even run for their lives in view of the curfew in place.
A resident Mari Madu said he counted at least 40 thunderous blasts from the grenades before he lost count.
A second resident Khalil Ahmad, said seven people were killed by one of the RPG bombs at Dala suburb, behind Gomari area, along Maiduguri-Damaturu road.
Another witness, Yusuf Sani, said a civilian was killed by the RPG bomb at another house at Gomari.
Adamu Hamza, who lives at Bulunkutu area spoke of “heavy casualties because I learnt some of the grenades torched people’s houses.”
A source said:”The terrorists came prepared to take over the town but after realizing the heavy fire power from troops, started firing their RPGs which claimed the life of a taxi driver, Mallam Bukar around Borehole area and three other residents.”
Another resident of Gomari who shared a fence with one of the victims said the fence was partially destroyed by a grenade.
An AFP reporter who lives in the area said he heard what sounded like armoured personnel carriers deploying to the southern edge of Maiduguri to face the rebel advance.
A military source said: “For the third time, the insurgents attempted to overrun Maiduguri through Dala in the Southern part.
“They were however frustrated by the water-tight security and military apparatchik in Borno State capital because they could not march on the city.
“Instead, they started firing Rocket Propelled Grenades at houses and soft targets along their invasion path.”
The source however said troops took the battle to the insurgents and succeeded in killing more than 20 of them.
The source added: “Though the insurgents killed about seven people in the attack, troops fell more than 20 of them. Many insurgents were also wounded because of the aerial attacks by troops.”
Another top security source in Maiduguri said:”The terrorists wanted to enter Maiduguri through Dala Alamdari because there was no way they could come in through any of the recognized highways.
“And the trenches that we dug around the whole of Maiduguri also served as a serious impediment for them to move with their vehicles and arms. They therefore tiptoed from the bushes and fired several RPG bombs into residential areas.
“We confronted them frontally for over three hours and all is now well,” the source said.
Security sources said the attack had been repelled.
“All is under control. There is no cause for alarm,” one of the sources said.
The sound of RPGs and gunfire had eased by midday yesterday only for a suicide bomber to strike late afternoon close to the Monday Market.
“It was suicide attack by a bomber who pretended to be worshipper,” said Haruna Dawud, a trader at the market which is next to the mosque.
Dawud said he saw 20 bodies being evacuated after the blast at roughly 3:30 pm but could not confirm how many were dead.
Another trader, Nura Khalid, said he personally counted nine corpses being taken out of the mosque.
“The roof was blown off and fire destroyed the mats and a few Korans,” Khalid said.
Sada Umaru, a trader who participated in the rescue operation, also said the death toll may reach 20 or higher, but like Dawud, was not able to confirm a specific toll amid the chaos that followed the blast.
Umaru confirmed the accounts of other witnesses that the attacker entered the mosque pretending to be a worshipper who had come for afternoon prayers.
President Buhari condemned the terrorist attacks, warning that his new administration won’t tolerate wanton and willful destruction of life by criminal elements that are bent on anarchy.
Buhari in a statement issued by the Head of his Media Team, Garba Shehu, said his administration will fight terrorism with all the resources available to it.
He described terrorists as cowardly murderers that target innocent people.
President Buhari explained that as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, he has sworn to protect the security of Nigerians everywhere.
He called for increased vigilance by local communities and pledged that government would lay emphasis on security by effectively funding the armed forces and attending to the welfare of soldiers.
He condoled with the families of the victims of the latest terrorist attack on Maiduguri.
The insurgents have already been driven out of most of the towns and villages under their control in an offensive launched in February by Nigeria with backing from neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
But there are signs of the militants regrouping, particularly in the remote parts of eastern Borno near the Cameroon border.
