A senior official of the traditional council of Gwoza town in Borno State has disclosed that members of the Boko Haram sect are having a field day in territories they have captured and have turned the sacked Emir’s palace in Gwoza to their headquarters.
He said the militants are now relocating from their camp in Sambisa forest in Borno State to the territories they have annexed in the northern region.
According to witnesses, their move is predicated on unabated territorial conquests by the insurgents who have occupied the army base in Gamboru town in Borno State which they took over on Monday.
Speaking to newsmen, the official said: “As you are aware, part of the administrative unit of the palace was destroyed but the insurgents are using the remaining part as their headquarters,
“In the past few days, even the old people who could not move to anywhere were taken out by the Boko Haram. They put them in vehicles and drove to the outskirts of Limankara, 16 kilometres away and left them there. Both Limankara village, the police training school there, Pulka village and dozens of communities around Gwoza are all under the control of the Boko Haram.”
Villagers living close to Sambisa forest in Borno State said they saw a large number of the militants, leaving their camp and moving towards southern Borno with their families and possibly many of their hostages. The Southern Borno towns they are migrating to include; Gwoza, Buni Yadi, Ashigashya, Madagali among others captured recently.
A villager residing in Kirawa, a town on the Cameroonian side also said he had seen some suspected Boko Haram insurgents moving through Cameroonian territory to Nigeria with large amounts of cargo in tightly guarded convoys.
It was learnt that the insurgents have also taken over the Vocational Training Centre in Gamboru by stationing dozens of their fighters there and are dishing out orders to residents.
Meanwhile, sources revealed that hundreds of Cameroonian soldiers are on alert at the border between Nigeria and Cameroon, apparently prepared to confront the insurgents should they attempt to encroach into their territories.
Residents of Gamboru town informed that Nigerian soldiers are yet to return to the town after they fled to Cameroon following a fierce fight with the insurgents on Monday.
One of the residents who pleaded anonymity for security concerns said, “we have continued to be at the mercy of the Boko Haram insurgents who have taken absolute control of Gamboru.
“The insurgents are fully armed with sophisticated guns, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and many other vehicles. They also have unlimited number of motorcycles. Some of them are currently patrolling Gamboru, but they did not kill anybody or attack our houses, shops and other personal effects.
“I cannot tell you how many these fighters are but I can say they are in hundreds because they have divided themselves into many subgroups. They are going round talking to people, saying those who are not willing to stay should quietly move out of the town, insisting that they did not come to kill us.”
Another resident of Gamboru who identified himself as Yero said they are still living in fear.
“Believe me the insurgents are in charge. When we heard about 10 simultaneous sounds of explosives this morning, we thought the insurgents had started destroying our town, but we later found out that the explosives were buried near the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. I think it was the insurgents that buried them to serve as traps, but luckily enough, nobody, either civilian or Nigerian troops passed through the area while fleeing to Cameroon at the height of the fight on Monday.”
He said that as at the evening of Tuesday, the Boko Haram insurgents did not make any attempt to confront the Cameroonian troops who were stationed around Fotokol, one of the major towns in Cameroon that is not far from Nigeria.
The source said some displaced Nigerians are currently taking refuge near Fotokol, beyond the river that also serves as border between Nigeria and Cameroon.