Hundreds of Boko Haram militants stormed the
town of Askira Uba in northeast Nigeria, burning
homes and public buildings, as attacks continued
despite a regional campaign against the Islamist
rebels, witnesses said on Tuesday.
Residents able to flee the town in Borno state
left in droves, with only the sick and elderly
remaining behind through the insurgents’
rampage.
“We don’t know their fate in the hands of Boko
Haram,” said a guard at the palace of the local
chief, requesting anonymity.
The attack began at about 19:30 on Monday and
the extremists “burnt most of the homes in
town”, he added.
Another resident who fled, Aliyu Abdullahi, gave
similar details but said Monday’s attack was
preceded by a similar raid on Sunday, when the
insurgents torched the local emir’s palace.
Series of major gains
“When they burnt the palace of the emir on
Sunday we thought they were done only for them
to come back last night and set the town on
fire,” said Abdullahi who fled to the nearby town
of Mubi, which was recently liberated from rebel
control.
Abdullahi said residents in Askira Uba tried to call
for help from troops based in the town of Chibok
25km away but that soldiers “refused to deploy”.
More than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped from
Chibok in April, prompting global outrage and
drawing unprecedented attention to the Boko
Haram conflict.
The Islamists took over Chibok in September but
troops backed by vigilantes reclaimed it days
later.
Since then, a large contingent of soldiers have
been based in the now infamous town and it was
not immediately clear why they did not deploy to
Askira Uba to repel the latest attack.
Defence officials were not available to comment.
Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger have
launched an unprecedented joint offensive
against the Islamists this month and have
claimed a series of major gains.
But violence has persisted, with critics saying
Nigerian soldiers are still not doing enough to
protect civilians against near daily assaults by
the militants.