Boko Haram Seizes Army Base in Borno State

On Saturday, January 4th, Boko
Haram attacked and took over a
multinational military base in Baga
town, Borno State, BBC reports. The
Multi-National Joint Task Force
(MNJTF), comprises troops from
Nigeria, Niger, and Chad.

Many residents were killed in the
town during the invasion, as the
terrorists burnt down structures
and attacked people
indiscriminately. Those who
escaped did so by fleeing the town
via boat to Chad.

Eyewitness accounts revealed that
the soldiers fled during the
invasion, causing further panic
amongst residents.

“We were woken up by heavy
gunshots, and we couldn’t identify
where the shots were coming
from.

They came through the north, the
west and from the southern part
of the town because the eastern
part is only water. So, when we
[went] towards the western part,
we saw heavily armed Boko
Haram men coming towards us.

The soldiers were trying to repel
the attack but that wasn’t going
to happen because a lot of the
soldiers were without their guns
and some were running into the
town.

When you see soldiers running away into the town – what are you to do, other than to just run away as well?,” said one of the survivors of the attack.

Commenting on the situation, Maina
Maaji Lawan, a senator for Borno
North, expressed frustration at the
fact that soldiers fled instead of
fighting back.

“There is definitely something
wrong that makes our military
abandon their posts each time there
is an attack from Boko Haram, ” he
said.