Information coming in from Borno State
in northern Nigeria suggest that the Boko
Haram insurgents might be changing
their base from the Sambisa forest
moving towards southern Borno.
According to a report published by Sahara
Reporters yesterday, Wednesday, 27 August,
2014, residentsliving near Sambisa forest
in Borno State have reported seeing a
large number of Boko Haram militants
leaving the thick forest Tuesday's
morning and moving towards southern
Borno. It was gathered that a security
source also confirmed the account of the
villagers. The source informed that
Nigeria's intelligence agents were aware
that members of the Islamist sect, who
had been holed up in Sambisa forest,
seemed to be relocating to the large
territories they have captured in their
recent attacks.
He added that the insurgents' relocation
is most likely motivated by the sect's
recent successes in capturing several
major towns in northern Borno, Yobe, and
Adamawa States. According to some
villagers, who claimed to witness the
militants' relocation, the insurgents had
been moving their families and possibly
many of their abductees to safer grounds
in towns captured in recent weeks. A
villager in Kirawa, a town on the
Cameroonian side, also said he had seen
some suspected Boko Haram militants
moving through Cameroonian territory to
Nigeria with large amounts of cargo in
tightly secured convoys. Many people
believe the alleged relocation of the
insurgents may be as a result of about
480 Nigerian soldiers who fled to
neighboring Cameroon some days ago in
order to escape from a fierce contingent
of Boko Haram militants that attacked
Gamboru-Ngala, a major town near the
border with Cameroon. It was reported
after the incident that the militants easily
seized the town, and hoisted their flags at
a police station and the home of a former
governor, Ali Modu Sheriff. It was
reported that the fleeing soldiers, who ran
away with civilians, left behind four
armored personnel carriers (APCs) and a
huge cache of arms that the militants
have taken. Only on Tuesday, the
absconding soldiers were repatriated to
Nigeria by the Cameroonian authorities.
Meanwhile, many villagers that were
displaced because of the heavy fighting
Gamboru-Ngala are still trapped in
Fotocol, a small town near Ngala. At least,
10, 000 people have lost their lives while
tens of thousands of others have been
internally displaced from their
communities in northeastern Nigeria due
to Boko Haram insurgency since 2009.
The leader of the group, Abubakar
Shekau, who has been blacklisted as a
terrorist by the United Nations, UN, on
Monday released a video where he
declared Gwoza town, in Borno state as
an Islamic Caliphate. The Nigerian military
had since dismissed Shekau's claim,
saying Nigeria remains one indivisible
republic. Source: www.locogist..nl/2014/08/boko-haram-relocate-from-sambisa.html?m=1