CKN Nigeria
Fighting between Nigerian troops and Boko Haram insurgents escalated in Mubi, Mararaba Mubi and Uba in Adamawa State on Wednesday.
Casualty figures could not be obtained as of 8pm but the development forced the state government to impose 24-hour curfew on the affected communities.
It was gathered that Mubi, the second largest town in the state and host of two high institutions, was the worst hit.
A parent, Ahmad Sajoh, whose daughter is studying at the Adamawa State University, said that as of 2pm on Wednesday, the police barracks in the Government Reservation Area was overrun by the insurgents while the prison in the town was blown open.
He added that fighting which was ongoing at the army barracks caused confusion at the IDP camp in the Lamorde area of the town.
However, an online newspaper, SaharaReporters reported that Boko Haram insurgents took over the headquarters of the 234 battalion in the town.
Our correspondents gathered that the development made banks to move their cash to Yola, the state capital.
Sources said the insurgents launched an attack on Uba in the Michika-Madagali area of the state in response to sustained aerial bombardment of their hideouts by security forces.
Residents said they saw a large number of insurgents at Mararaba, a town about seven kilometres from Mubi.
Sajoh said his daughter called to inform him about the development in Mubi.
He said, “This morning, I got a call from my daughter who is a 200-level student. She was hysterical. I was in Abuja for a meeting, but her information forced me to head back to Yola immediately.
“I ordered her to leave the hostel and join her cousins to escape the town. I called my father who confirmed the story. By the time I arrived at Yola airport, the town had fallen to the insurgents.
“My parents are trapped while my daughter and her cousins are missing. We have lost contact for six hours.”
Sajoh, who is the director of Press and Public Affairs to the former Governor Murtala Nyako, added, “Mallam Iliyasu of the Bursary Department of the state university, who is trapped in the town said by 2pm, the Police Barracks in the GRA was overrun by the insurgents, the prison was blown open while fighting was going on at the army barracks. The IDP camp at Lamorde area was thrown into confusion.
“The new rulers of the town had issued a decree banning entry and exit to the town. Students who trooped to the motor park were stranded with most taking refuge in any house that could welcome them.
“The barracks are the least safe locations in the town. So far, there are no reported cases of killings or abductions. But fear and apprehension have taken over.”
Another source said that Mubi was currently deserted by residents after the incident, the second in three months.
The higher institutions in the town were forced to close down again.
There are fears of humanitarian crisis should the town fall into the hands of the insurgents.
A fleeing resident, Joshua Gajere, said several people might have been killed during the shootings that lasted for almost two hours in Uba and other villages.
He said, ‘‘We are in serious trouble as these boys (Boko Haram) have taken over our towns, splitting into groups and advancing towards Mararaba, Mubi and Vintim, the home town of the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh. They made the Nigerian troops to retreat to Mubi’’.
Gajere added, “As I am talking to you now, residents are scampering for safety.
‘‘Mubi has now become a ghost of itself as people in their hundreds are fleeing for their lives.
‘‘Even here in Maiha, we saw military vehicles zooming off towards Yola, the state capital.’’
However, a resident from Michika, Mr. Siva Zira, told one of our correspondents that the military was having an upper hand as they were able to dislodge the insurgents in Michika and Uba.
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