The deadly Boko Haram sect attacked a Yobe town, Babbangida, in Tarmuwa local council of the state on Sunday morning, razing many of the houses.
Babbangida is the headquarters of Tarmuwa Local Government Area of the state and shares borders with Damaturu, the Yobe state capital.
Located 50 kilometres north of Damaturu, it has experienced several cases of Boko Haram invasion in the past.
A resident, Ibrahim, who fled to Damaturu as a result of the attack, said “The Boko Haram militants in the early hours of today invaded the town.”
He said the militants had on Saturday attempted to attack the town but it was thwarted by the military who were alerted.
Ibrahim said: “Yesterday (Saturday) being the market day, there were apprehensions of possible attack on the town but security forces were fully aware and such possible attack was thwarted.”
He said residents equally ran out of their homes and took refuge in the bushes for fear of the attack as the militants reorganised at night and launched an attack on the town around 6:40 am today (Sunday).
“As we were hidden in bushes like many other residents in the early hours of today (Sunday) we then heard several gunshots and chanting of war songs around the troubled Babbangida town confirming the earlier apprehensions and not quite long we saw thick smoke around the town which is gave a strong signal that houses and other structures were being burnt”
He said he attempted to call some of the people in the town after he fled but could not get connected, indicating that the GSM masks might have been destroyed in the area.
A top military personnel, who does not want his name mentioned as he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the attack on Babbangida was a reprisal one as the combined security forces had on Saturday launched an offensive on the insurgents at their hideout around Sasawa, a border town between Damaturu and Babbangida.
“We carried out an offensive attack on the militants as a result of a tip-off. We gathered that they were preparing to attack Damaturu, the state capital, and the attack on Tarmuwa may have been carried out as a reprisal to our earlier assaults,” the source said.
According to the source, Sunday’s attack on Babbangida was unprecedented as damage to property may be huge while the extent of destruction is yet to be determined because GSM services are completely down in the town while thick smoke was sighted from a far.
Sunday’s attack is the second in the state since President Muhammadu Buhari took over as president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
The insurgents had earlier attacked Fika and Ngalda towns of Yobe state located west of Damaturu, the state capital.
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