Nigerian security sources say
they have seen signs that
Islamist Boko Haram militants
may be planning a massive
attack on Maiduguri, the
capital of Borno State, less
than a week after Nigerian
soldiers repelled a daring
attack and handed the
insurgents a costly defeat
last Sunday.
Security and local sources
told SaharaReporters that
Boko Haram terrorists
appeared to be regrouping to
overrun the strategic
northeast city before
commencement of Nigeria’s
general elections due to start
on February 14.
Before the Islamist fighters
struck last Sunday, residents
of some communities near
Maiduguri said they had
alerted the Nigerian military
that some insurgents were
approaching along the
Dambua-Biu road near
Allahganrino village.
According to the reported
informants, the military had
apparently paid no heed to
their warnings. A day later,
Boko Haram attacked
Maiduguri.
A soldier who fled Monguno,
a town that was also
attacked on Sunday and
seized by the insurgents, told
SaharaReporters that the
militants used to say when
they would storm towns and
military barracks and carry
out such threats. He criticized
commanders who boast
about working on intelligence,
saying they had nothing to
show for such ostensible
intelligence.
“We should stop defending all
the time. There is [an] urgent
need for a counter-offensive
against Boko Haram,” said a
military source. He alleged
that the Islamist militants
forewarned about their
attacks on Baga and
Monguno, adding that he had
experienced such pre-attack
warnings three times.
A resident of a village near
Maiduguri told
SaharaReporters that he and
other residents had seen a
large number of Boko Haram
militants arriving along Dikwa
road in sports utility vehicles,
motorcycles and camels,
adding that they had alerted
military authorities as well.
“We have received tips from
some of the locals that they
have sighted the militants,” a
security operative in the
beleaguered city told our
correspondent.
A member of the civilian joint
task force combating the
Islamist militants said many
of the local people “have
vowed to join in the fight to
flush Boko Haram out. We
are not going to take things
[lightly] with them. We are
ready for them [Boko Haram
fighters]. Since they want to
die, we shall kill them.”
However, some residents of
Maiduguri say they have not
been able to “sleep with two
eyes closed since last
Sunday,” as one of them
stated. He added that the fall
of Monguno barracks meant
that the militants now control
various types of deadly
weapons, including artillery
weapons with capacity to fire
from long distances. “We
don’t know when they will
come again, but they have
the weapons to cause major
havoc,” said the resident.