Boko Haram Hits Borno Town, Burn INEC Office, Houses

An attack has been carried out in Gubio, a town in Borno state by suspected Boko Haram insurgents, displacing thousands of people in the process.

A report monitored on TheCable by Naija News, quoted sources to have said that the Boko Haram insurgents invaded the town around 5 pm on Wednesday, August 21, shooting sporadically and setting many houses on fire.

It was learned that the Boko Haram insurgents have been around Gubio communities for at least three months as a result of the relocation of the brigade headquarters from the town.

A soldier from the army’s 5 brigades stationed in Damasak told TheCable that: “There is no soldier in Gubio, and that is why those guys moved in. They burnt the INEC office and some other houses,” he said.

“As I am speaking, troops have been reinforced from the brigade and now in face-off with the insurgents.”

Similarly, a journalist resident in Maiduguri, Jack Vince, corroborated the account of the soldier.

Vince told TheCable that the area had been without the military presence and that was why it made easy for the insurgents to storm without any resistance.

“For about two weeks now no military post from Damasak on the border with Niger Republic to my community in Maiduguri, Magumeri, Kareto, Gubio and so on,” he said.

“Gubio was dislodged, soldiers ran to Damasak and Maiduguri leaving that wide expanse of land unguarded.”

Another source said the soldiers pulled out because the locals were not cooperating with them in fighting the insurgents.

“Thousands of people dislodged from Gubio have ran to the bush, trying to find their way to Maiduguri,” the source added.