Boko Haram Annexes Hometown Of Defence Chief Kareem Haruna , Mohammed Ismail — Oct 31, 2014 | Leave a comment Boko Haram insurgents have captured Vimtim, the hometown of Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Marshall Alex Badeh, as they continue their onslaught in the north eastern parts of the country. The annexation of Vimtim is a consolidation of the militants’ earlier victory when they captured the commercial border town of Mubi as they overran the military barracks, police area command and other strategic places in the town. Reports from the area indicate that before the capture of Victim, a reinforcement of soldiers sent to the area led to a sustained battle with the insurgents throughout the night before the insurgents finally overpowered the soldiers and captured the town. Many people were reportedly killed in the cross-fire as thousands of residents tried to escape to Yola, Maiha and adjoining villages of Cameroon Republic where Cameroonian gendarmes were reported to have prevented those that tried to cross the border from entering their country. It was similarly reported that the insurgents had a field day looting and burning the property of the displaced people who had deserted the town. A trapped resident of Mubi, who said God had spared his life, reported that the local government secretariat, the Mubi International Cattle Market and other important public and private buildings had been burnt down by the insurgents. Meanwhile, the Adamawa State government has dispatched over 100 buses to the beleaguered town and its environs to ferry trapped and stranded people to the safety of the Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDP) camp in Yola, the state capital. Governor Bala James Ngilari gave the order yesterday afternoon when concerned citizens of Mubi visited him to brief him on the current developments in the area. The leader of the group, Mr Joshua Atiku, urged the governor to consult with the federal government so as to persuade the Cameroonian authorities to allow fleeing people access into that country. Atiku disclosed that hundreds of thousands of people escaping into Cameroon are stranded at the borders because Cameroonian gendarmes denied them entry. Dozens of Soldiers, Policemen killed in Mubi Dozens of soldiers and policemen have reportedly died in the attack by Boko Haram insurgents who took control of the commercial border town of Mubi. Trapped residents said the insurgents are effectively in control of the town as they hoisted their flags on the military barracks, police area command and the palace of the Emir of Mubi as well as taking over the institutions of higher learning. Reports from the area also indicate that the insurgents have mounted serious surveillance on the town just as they have imposed a 24-hour curfew in order to consolidate their grip on the place. It was also reported that they have mounted checkpoints and are preventing residents from fleeing the town. Residents also said the insurgents had burnt down many places, including the town’s main market, shopping malls and other business hubs. Narrating his ordeal, one of the trapped residents, Dauda Mubi, said the displaced residents were in a pathetic situation as their life hangs in the balance. “We are now trapped in our houses and cannot not dare to go out for the fear of being shot by Boko Haram. We have started running out of food and water and our fate of survival hangs in the balance. “Explosions and gun shots have inundated the town since yesterday as soldiers engage the insurgents to protect the hometown of the Chief of Defence Staff,” he said. Another resident of the area Mr Sani Moses, reported that thick smoke had enveloped the entire town as the insurgents burnt down strategic places in the town in addition to the ongoing battle between the militants and soldiers who made an attempt to recapture the town. “We can’t sleep; there are bomb explosions and gunshots all over the place as intense fighting between Nigerian troops and insurgents continue. Fighting is still raging in Vimtim, the hometown of Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, and we hear heavy gunfire and explosions,” Moses said. Mubi: Boko Haram announce deaths to families through dead victims’ phones Some of the displaced residents of Mubi whose relatives were killed by the Boko Haram gunmen said they came to know about the death of their relatives through the insurgents who would pick calls to the phones of the deceased victims and proudly announce that they been killed. In a voice broken by hours of crying, a young lady (names withheld) told our reporter via the phone of how a Boko Haram gunman that killed her uncle, one Mr Charles Joseph, broke the news to them when they called the line of the deceased. “We could not believe our ears when the line of Uncle Charles eventually came alive and a different voice told us that “I am one of those you call Boko Haram and we have killed the owner of this phone because he is an infidel.” The young lady said her elder sister, who could not withhold the anguish, cursed the man that answered the phone. “My sister told him on phone that he, too, will very soon die a miserable death, but the man did not care, as he told us: ‘I cannot die a miserable death because I am fighting on the path of Allah and He would surely bless my death with paradise.’” The lady narrated that her uncle did not flee the town on time because he believed the soldiers would take care of the situation when they asked them to remain indoors. Emir of Mubi’s son killed by Boko Haram One of the sons of the Emir of Mubi, Abubakar Isah Ahmadu, has been reported killed by Boko Haram insurgents who are in control of the town for close to 48 hours. Reports indicate that the slain son of the monarch was among hundreds of civilians killed by the rampaging insurgents when they captured the town. Many people of the area were said to have been killed while trying to escape the town. The killing of fleeing residents is said to be a measure deployed by the insurgents to discourage people from leaving the town as they blocked all routes out of the town. Residents who escaped said they fled through the bushes and had to walk long distances to safety. The Emir of Mubi is in Saudi Arabia as the Amirul Hajj of the state for the just concluded 2014 pilgrimage.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 05:07:11 +0000
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