Scores flee Borno town as Boko Haram mounts fresh attack

From Timothy Olanrewaju Maiduguri

Scores of residents of Damasak, a troubled town in Borno, have fled to neighbouring communities in Niger Republic following a fresh round of attacks by Boko Haram, the second in a week.

Sources including local officials not authorised to speak to newsmen on security matters told Daily Sun that Boko Haram returned to Damasak on Tuesday evening barely five days after the last weekend attack.

‘They came around 5 pm on Tuesday, attacked the military base and burnt down all the houses,’ the official said on condition of anonymity. Some residents were reportedly killed while nearly a dozen were wounded.

He described the attack as deadlier than the last Saturday’s, adding that scores of residents have fled the town to villages along the Nigerian border with Niger.

Boko Haram attacked Damasak, a town about 190 kilometres to Maiduguri, the Borno capital, Saturday evening through the early hours of Sunday. The military claimed troops repelled the attack.