The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has debunked the assertions by the
Borno Elders’ Forum (BEF) on Wednesday that Maiduguri, the Borno State capital,
is under siege and has been surrounded by Boko Haram terrorists, thereby
causing panic amongst the residents some of whom are alleged to have fled the
city. It has also assured Nigerians that the ongoing offensive through
sustained aerial bombardment and complementary ground assault has helped to
halt the terrorists’ advance with most of their structures and strongholds
destroyed in North-east towns like Gwoza, Bama, Michika and others. DHQ was
responding to an exclusive report by THISDAY yesterday in which the forum
announced that the Borno State capital had been surrounded by the insurgents
and called on the federal government to save the state and others in the
North-east from total destruction by the marauding sect. The forum had decried
the horror, death, destruction and misery that had been visited on
North-eastern Nigeria and particularly Borno State by Boko Haram, warning that
the sect had strategised and completely surrounded the city of Maiduguri. BEF
further warned that it was apparent that the sect’s imminent target was to take
the city of Maiduguri, noting that almost half of the population of Borno now resides
in Maiduguri. However, DHQ’s claim that Boko Haram had been uprooted from Bama
was debuked by fleeing residents from the town who alleged that the military
was disseminating half-truths about the true position of things in Borno’s
second largest city.
Thisday Newspaper
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