A bloody clash has occurred in Borno State between Boko Haram fighters and those of the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP), claiming scores of lives.
The wave of insecurity in the Northeast at the weekend also saw the convoy of Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni come under insurgents’ attack, leaving a policeman dead.
Kaduna and Sokoto states were also not spared the horror of insecurity as gunmen killed a pastor in the former and abducted his wife while a clash between some youths and bandits in Sokoto State also left one person dead.
A counter-insurgency expert and security analyst in Lake Chad, Zagazola Makama, who disclosed the clash between Boko Haram and ISWAP in a post on his social media platform X on Saturday, said the casualty figures on both sides could add up to more than 60 as the infighting continued.
According to Makama, a heavy fight broke out between the two militant groups at Tumbum Ali Island in Marte LGA at about 1400 hours, culminating in the death of some commanders of the warring groups.
He said the attack was in retaliation of the massive killing of ISWAP fighters by the Buduma factions which had seized most of their hideouts.
He wrote: “Scores of fighters from the Jam’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihd (Boko Haram), and the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists, including their commanders, were killed during an infighting in the North East of Borno State.
“Reports indicated that a heavy fight broke out between the two groups at Tumbum Ali Island in Marte LGA at about 1400 hours.
“Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama, a Counter-Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad region, that six boats belonging to the Bakura Buduma faction and four JAS elements boats, all filled with fighters, were destroyed.
“The sources said the casualties on both sides could be more than 60 as the infighting continued”.
No fewer than six security personnel were wounded while a policeman was feared killed as Boko Haram terrorists attacked Governor Buni’s convoy on the Damaturu-Maiduguri highway at about 6 pm yesterday.
The convoy was returning to Damaturu from Maiduguri after the governor attended the 24th combined convocation of the University of Maiduguri only to run into an ambush laid by the terrorists between Mainok and Benishiek communities.
The governor was, however, not in the convoy as he had jetted to Abuja after the convocation ceremony.
Among the top Yobe Government officials in the convoy were the Secretary to the State Government, Baba Malam Wali; the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Brig-Gen. Dahiru Abdulsalam (rtd) and his Special Adviser on Religious Affairs, Babagana Malam Kyari.
There were also military escorts with two mine resistant ambush protected (mrap) vehicles and 3 Toyota gun trucks, police escorts, DSS operatives and members of Yobe State Hunters Group who had accompanied the governor to the convocation ceremony.
A witness who survived the attack said the attack was launched at both the front and the rear of the convoy simultaneously.
Sources said that the troops leading the convoy with MRAP, a gun truck and another vehicle conveying the police and DSS were shot at, while the vehicle at the end of the convoy only had to drive rims as all the tyres were deflated with gunshots.
A source at the Gen. Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital Damaturu source informed that one military truck driver, four police escorts and one DSS operative, who all sustained gunshot injuries, were in stable condition.
The source further informed that one of the injured police escorts died shortly after arriving at the hospital in Damaturu.
There were also echoes of insecurity in Kaduna State where some gunmen invaded Damakasuwa in the Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Friday, killing the pastor in charge of the second Evangelical Church Winning All, Damakasuwa, and abducting his wife.
A resident of Damakasuwa, who witnessed the incident, said about three months ago, the gunmen had attempted to kidnap the son of the clergyman but were repelled with the help of the community, even though he (the son) was injured.
“Again, yesterday, they stormed his house, gunned him down and kidnapped his wife.
“The gunmen had earlier called in the morning, demanding N3 million ransom from the family. They have not called again”, the witness stated.
According to him, there has been tension in the community since the incident occurred.
He added: “We are calling on security agencies and the government to help rescue the widow who is traumatised at the moment”.
The police were yet to react at press time.
In Sokoto State, one person lost his life when the youths of Kwakwala, a community in the state, resisted some bandits who wanted to attack their village.
The spokesman for the Sokoto State Police Command, Assistant Superintendent Ahmad Rufa’i, said the bandits, in an attempt to attack the Kwakwala community in the Sokoto metropolis, engaged in a shootout with the youth of the area.
He said: “Based on the report at our disposal, the suspected bandits numbering about 10 and armed with cutlasses and guns attacked a community behind the main campus of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto.
“The youth of the area resisted the attack and in the process, the bandits shot one of the youths named Usman, who died instantly.
“Four other youths of the Kwalkwala and Dundaye communities also sustained various degrees of injuries in the attack”.
The Police Public Relations Officer assured that the command under the leadership of Commissioner of Police, Ali Kaigama was doing everything possible to ensure that the culprits were apprehended.
