Another development that raises doubts about
the ceasefire deal announced over the weekend,
troops of the 7 Division have killed at least 25
members of the Boko Haram terrorist group.
The incident which security officials said
happened on Sunday night following an attack on
Damboa Local Government Area of Borno state
lays credence to comments that the federal
government was negotiating with the wrong
people.
The federal government had Friday announced it
had signed a ceasefire agreement with the Boko
Haram, an Islamist sect that has been terrorising
Nigeria since 2009. As part of the agreement, a
government official had announced that the
abducted Chibok girls were going to be released
during the current week, an assertion dismissed
by the Principal Private Secretary to President
Goodluck Jonathan, Alhaji Hassan Tukur, who was
said to be negotiating the peace deal with the
terror group on behalf of the federal government.
Tukur said negotiation continues this week and no
date has been set for the release of the girls.
However, less than 24 hours after the
announcement of the deal, eight people were
killed in an attack on a Borno town.
Insurgents invaded Damboa town at about
5:15pm on Sunday, reports Vanguard, citing a
reliable security source. Damboa is south and
85km drive from Maiduguri, the state capital.
“Terrorists numbering over 100 in 7 Hilux pickup
vans and motorcycles fully armed with Rocket
Propelled Launchers, Improvised Explosive
Devices (IEDs), AK47 rifles stormed the town on
Sunday night, they realized that the town has
started picking up live following returning back of
many fleeing residents after military took over
from the terrorists who had captured the town in
June this year, but we are happy that they were
confronted,” another Vanguard source said.
The source however commended the the military
troops in Damboa who successfully repelled the
attack and killed more than 20 terrorists,
recovering cache of arms and ammunition.