Troops of the Joint Task Force, Operation Hadin Kai, have found another cache of live ammunition in the Kumshe area of the Maiduguri Metropolitan Council in Borno State.
The latest recovery involved 12.7mm ammunition found in Bulumkutu, hidden along a railway line, barely a day after the Nigerian Army uncovered a similar cache near a railway in Kumshe community on the outskirts of Maiduguri.
A resident of Kumshe, who identified himself simply as Mallam, told The Guardian on Sunday in Maiduguri that the police and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force discovered the fresh cache concealed in sacks beside the railway.
He said the police and the Civilian Joint Task Force had cordoned off the area where the ammunition was buried, while the police anti-bomb squad was deployed to the scene to ensure the safety of residents and passersby.
According to him, the site is about 50 metres from Shehu Laminu Way.
The resident added that Kumshe is located close to the former headquarters of Boko Haram, popularly known as Markas, as well as the residence of the late Mohammed Yusuf, founder of the insurgent group.
He noted that the Markas headquarters is historically linked to the 16-year Boko Haram insurgency, which has claimed thousands of lives and destroyed property across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
As of the time of filing this report, the military and other security agencies had yet to issue an official statement on the second recovery of ammunition in the area.
The Markas headquarters was demolished and flattened on the directive of the administration of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in July 2009, following heightened security operations in Maiduguri.
