Local
Security forces on Sunday announced that they have killed many insurgents, including a top Boko Haram commander who had a N10 million bounty on his head, during an operation in some strongholds of the sect in Maiduguri.
The Joint Task Force (JTF) said during the on-going campaign that started on July 3 its men discovered many mass graves, tunnels, bunkers and assorted arms and ammunitions buried in graveyards and deserted areas.
JTF did not give a specific number of insurgents killed, but residents said over 100 people lost their lives during the operation. A state specialists hospital official also told the newsmen that more than 95 bodies were deposited in the past 10 days as the operation went on.
The revelation came shortly after some journalists were allowed access to select areas in Maiduguri where insurgents used to hold sway, which had been cordoned off by security operatives.
The correspondents reported that it was a gory sight - with decomposing bodies strewn around destroyed homes and business premises.
In a statement in Maiduguri yesterday, JTF spokesman Lt-Col Sagir Musa said between July 3 and 8, troops "had dislodged Boko Haram terrorists from their main enclaves in Bulabulin Ngarnam, Aljajeri and Falluja areas of Maiduguri metropolis."
He said troops had engaged some insurgents in serious fight which led to the killing of many of them, adding that the operation was ongoing.
"During the encounter, some terrorists were killed in the fire fight including the main Amir of Bulabulin Ngarnam, who was on the wanted list of the JTF with N10million bounty.
"He was responsible for the killing of a teacher and three students of Sanda Kyarami secondary school Ruwan Zafi in Maiduguri metropolis. Many abducted women, girls and children were rescued and handed over to their families by the task force.
"During the search of the areas, many arms and ammunition of various calibers buried inside houses and cemeteries were recovered," the statement said.
Lt-Col Musa, who conducted journalists round the selected areas, added that in the course of the operation, decomposing corpses of some people killed after they were abducted by the insurgents had been found in sewages.
He said mass graves of insurgents killed during encounters but taken away by their surviving colleagues were also found in the areas.
"Troops also discovered vast network mouse-holes linking compounds and underground tunnels as well as bunkers under houses. Troops are still searching the area for more weapons, ammunition and mass graves. The JTF uses this opportunity to appeal to members of the public for support and more information on terrorists' activities," Lt-Col Musa said in the statement.
The reporters informed that decomposing bodies were present in the cordoned areas, with flies hovering around and putrid odour oozing out.
For over 10 days, residents of Abbaganaram, Tashar Gwoza and other locations close to Bulabulin, Bayan Tasha have been in distress as a result of terrifying sound of gunshots, and movement of armoured personnel carriers and other military hardware.
Movement had been restricted and stops and search operations intensified.
A credible source at the State Specialists Hospital in Maiduguri confirmed that over 95 bodies had been deposited there in the past 10 days.
"Because of limited space in the mortuary, workers from the Borno State Environmental Protection Agency (BOSEPA) always come here and evacuate the corpses. This is necessary in order to avoid an epidemic," he said.
It has been also reported that following the sacking of the insurgents' territories in northern Borno as well as in Sambisa forest and Gwoza hills in central and northern parts of the state, some insurgents sneaked into Maiduguri and settled in Bulabulin, Ngarnam and Bayan Tasha, prompting JTF to cordon the places and conduct operations.
Borno is among the three states under a state of emergency-along with Yobe and Adamawa - which was proclaimed on May 17 in the wake of rising activities of insurgents.
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