SAN FRANCISCO, October 27, (THEWILL) – Four security operatives were killed on Saturday when a deadly Boko Haram group launched a voracious attack at a military checkpoint along the Bama- Banki junction road leading to Cameroon before escaping in their patrol vehicles, making away with their arms and ammunitions .
The Bama- Banki road leading to Cameroon is situated along the Firgi- Gwoza federal highway and located around the notorious Sambisa Game Forest which links Pulka town of Gwoza, an area believed to be the remaining stronghold of many of the Boko Haram cells.
Many of the terrorists still sneak out to attack from the area despite the claim by the military that it has destroyed so many of the camps of the insurgents in the area since the declaration of the state of emergency on May 14.
The gunmen who were fully armed with rocket propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were said to have stormed the military checkpoint at about 11:26pm on Saturday and started shooting the security operatives , killing four of them and escaping with their patrol vehicle.
The gunmen were also said to have set ablaze the houses, filling stations and shops around the popular junction, including the security post before fleeing into the bush .
The entire area was deserted Sunday morning after the deadly attack.
A local source who visited the area narrated what he saw to some journalists in Maiduguri on Sunday “You know that the Bama- Banki junction is a busy place where people, particularly business men and security agencies make their ends meet on a daily basis, due to number of motorists and smugglers that patronise the road to Cameroun Republic, and you can imagine that such a place that host a lot of business men and motorists and was attacked successfully by terrorists; you should expect a lot of civilian and security casualties,” the source said.
Efforts to get official confirmation from both the spokesman of the 7 Division, Nigerian Army, Leuitenant Colonel Mohammed Dole, and the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Gideon Jubrin, failed when filing this report as they could not be reached because of the telecommunication lockdown in Borno State in the past five months.
