Boko Haram Seizes Nigerian Army Base In Borno

Suspected Boko Haram militants
have seized a military base outside
Baga near Lake Chad after engaging
troops in a fierce battle that lasted
several hours, witnesses said on
Sunday.
“They (the militants) overwhelmed
the troops and forced them to
abandon the base which the
gunmen took over,” local resident
Usman Danssubdu told AFP after
fleeing to neighbouring Chad
following Saturday’s raids.
The base is used by the
Multinational Joint Task Force
(MNJTF), which was established in
1998 to battle cross-border crime
but whose mandate was expanded
to fighting Boko Haram when the
Islamist group emerged.
The force is made up of troops from
Nigeria as well as Niger and Chad.
Hundreds of fear-stricken residents
from Baga and five other towns and
villages have poured into
neighbouring Chad to escape Boko
Haram raids on their homes on the
shores of Lake Chad, witnesses said.
Residents of Kauyen Kuros, Mile 3,
Mile 4, Baga, Doron-Baga and
Bundaram fled across the lake in
fishing boats and canoes into Chad
following hours-long attacks on
Saturday by hundreds of militants
from the Islamist group.
“We are now seeking refuge in
Gubuwa, Kangallam and Kaiga
villages inside Chad near the border
with Nigeria,” Dansubdu told AFP
by telephone from Gubuwa.
Suspected Boko Haram gunmen late
Saturday also raided the town of
Babban Gida, 50 kilometres (30
miles) from Damaturu, the capital of
neighbouring Yobe state, according
to residents, who said they
destroyed several buildings.
Source: Vanguard