adminThe campaign against Boko Haram, which has said it wants to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, is aimed at re-establishing Nigeria’s “territorial integrity,” the military said after a state of emergency was declared in three areas.
The assault has included air strikes on Boko Haram strongholds in remote parts of north-eastern Borno state, and has spread to the state capital Maiduguri, the insurgents’ traditional home base — which residents said Sunday had been blockaded.
The phone network in Borno has all but collapsed since President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday declared a state of emergency there and in two neighbouring states, Adamawa and Yobe.
Defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said in a statement Saturday that Islamist fighters who are on the run amid the offensive are scrambling for key supplies like fuel.
He urged residents to report anyone trying to buy large quantities of fuel.
The supply shortage has begun to bite in the town of Gomboru Ngala, on the border with Cameroon, where some Borno residents have fled to escape the air raids.
Some residents in Gomboru Ngala have been contactable because they use Cameroonian phone lines.
The town has received an influx of people fleeing the nearby Marte district, one of the areas where Boko Haram chased out the government and removed Nigerian flags.
Marte has been among the areas targeted by air strikes, residents have told AFP.
Meanwhile, the offensive is escalating in Maiduguri, the city where the Boko Haram insurgency was born.
The military on Saturday imposed a round-the-clock curfew in 12 neighbourhoods considered Boko Haram strongholds ahead of “special operations” against the insurgents, a statement said.
Defence spokesman Olokulade on Saturday identified one neighbourhood which was being “combed to fish out any of the surviving insurgents.”
The operation could prove to be the largest ever against Boko Haram. — AFP.
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