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Boko Haram kills three in NE Nigeria: residents
KANO, Nigeria, March 19, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Boko Haram militants have
attacked a town in northeast Nigeria, killing three, and robbing and burning
a bank, residents said on Tuesday, in the latest violence in the restive
region.
Jihadist fighters arriving aboard vehicles and motorcycles stormed Michika
in Adamawa state near the border with neighbouring Borno at about 6:30 pm
(1730 GMT) on Monday, firing guns and forcing some residents to flee the
town.
Others were said to have locked themselves in their homes.
“They attacked a commercial bus driving through the town and killed three
people inside. They overpowered soldiers in the town and forced them to
withdraw,” resident Saleh Abbare told AFP.
He said the insurgents also broke into a commercial bank, carted away
money and set the building on fire. “The bank was recently renovated and
banking activities resumed since 2014 after it was destroyed by the same Boko
Haram when they took over the town,” he said.
Another resident, Daniel Bature, said the jihadists were pushed out after
the arrival of troops from Gulak, the headquarters of nearby Madagali
district. “The terrorists were pushed out and they drove towards Lassa on
their way back to the Sambisa Forest (in Borno),” said Bature, who gave a
similar account.
“Soldiers pursued them while vigilantes in Lassa laid in wait for them.
They suffered a lot of casualties from the two fronts,” he said.
The Nigerian Army confirmed the attack and said the militants “met their
Waterloo and suffered heavy casualties”. But it made no mention of civilian
deaths.
Spokesman Sagir Musa said the insurgents “were completely routed by the
troops, neutralising many of them, while others fled in disarray due to
superior firepower”.
Boko Haram’s decade-long insurgency has killed some 27,000 people and
forced almost two million others to flee their homes, sparking a dire
humanitarian crisis in the region.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1600 hrs