Once again, insurgents suspected to be members of Boko Haram struck on Thursday at Maraban Mubi area of Adamawa State where they killed 35 persons following a roadside bomb explosion.
An eyewitness said the bomb was planted by the insurgents to ambush local hunters and military personnel who had been detailed to fortify Mubi town from further attacks by the insurgents.
He said the explosion was timed by the perpetrators so it could blow up the hunters and military personnel, who had arrived at the scene.
The accuracy of the attack resulted in the death of five military personnel and a local hunter on the spot.
It raised fears over access to intelligence by Nigerian troops.
A resident of the area, Mallam Usman said the explosive may have been planted by members of the Boko Haram on the day before the blast occurred, adding that the perpetrators knew that the spot was where the soldiers and the hunters usually gather in the morning to strategise on their next line of action.
According to him, the military had also converted the spot where the explosive went off to a checkpoint, since there is usually heavy human and vehicular traffic at the location most of the time.
“The few people who were returning to the area started fleeing and it was immediately cordoned off by the military,” he said.
The explosion also prompted the military authorities to declare the vicinity a “no go area” and advised returning villagers and passersby to be extra cautious along the route.
Meanwhile, hundreds of local hunters keeping vigil with the military in the recovered areas of Adamawa State have vowed to ensure that the sect’s members are completely chased out or eliminated.
The leader of the hunters, Young Moris pledged that they will do all they could to ensure that Michika and Madagali are equally cleared of the insurgents soonest.
On the constraints faced by the group Moris said despite their personal sacrifices for their motherland, the state government’s gesture had not been encouraging, especially in the area of mobility and feeding, and advised politicians to stop sabotaging the efforts of government and playing politics with the insurgency.
Source: This Day