Boko Haram attacked Kukawa, a town in Borno State, abducting over 100 persons.
Sources in the Civilian Joint Task Force, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the insurgents drove in over 20 trucks to the town on the shores of Lake Chad.
The sources said the terrorists heralded their entry into the town with sporadic gunshots, engaging troops in the town for over 30 minutes.
They said the insurgents went away with over 100 persons as hostages after they were able to suppress and push back the military.
One of the sources, said, “At around 4pm on Tuesday, terrorists in about 20 trucks overran the town of Kukawa. They engaged soldiers guarding the people in a ferocious fire fight.
“After about 30 minutes of engaging the military, they (insurgents) were able to overpower them and went away with over 100 hostages.”
This latest abduction might have thwarted the plan of the state government to relocate internally displaced persons back to their homes.
Residents of Kukawa were recently relocated on August 2.
The residents were escorted during the relocation by the military as part of the resettlement plan of the state government.
When contacted on Wednesday, the spokesman for the state Governor, Mallam Isa Gusau, said he did not have the details of the attack.
A text message sent to the state Commissioner for Information, Babakura Abba-Jatto for confirmation was not replied.
On his part, the spokesman for the Army, Col. Sagir Musa, asked for patience, promising that the military would soon issue a press statement on the attack.
As of 10:35pm, the statement had yet to be issued.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Borno Police Command, Okon Edet, did not pick his call when an attempt was made to get the abduction confirmed by him.
Also, a text message sent to him seeking confirmation was not replied as of the time of filing this report.
But the military, on Wednesday said the Nigerian Air Force killed 20 suspected commanders and members of the Islamic State in West Africa Province at Bukar Meram, and Dole, in Borno State, during an airstrike.
The Defence Headquarters said troops of Operation Hail Storm, the air component of Operation Lafiya Dole, carried out the operations on Monday at the fringes of the Lake Chad region where the terrorists including some of their leaders were killed.
The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Majaor General John Enenche in a statement on Wednesday explained that the airstrike destroyed Bukar Meram, a logistics hub of ISWAP leaders.
The statement was titled, ‘Operation Hail Storm: Air Task Force clears ISWAP leaders and logistics facilities at Bukar Meram, neutralises fighters at Dole in Borno State.’
It said, “In continuation of airstrikes being conducted under subsidiary Operation Hail Storm, the Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole has successfully neutralised some ISWAP commanders and knocked out logistics facilities at Bukar Meram on the fringes of the Lake Chad in Borno State, while also neutralising several terrorists at Dole, a settlement in the Southern part of Borno State.”
It stated that the air interdiction missions were executed on August 17, on the heels of credible intelligence reports indicating a resurgence of terrorists’ activities in the two settlements.
Enenche said Bukar Meram, a major ISWAP logistics hub linking other island settlements of the Lake Chad, which also housed several of their fighters and some of their key leaders, was attacked by “an enhanced force package of the Nigerian Air Force fighter jets and helicopter gunships which hit designated targets in the area leading to the destruction of the logistics facilities and neutralization of several of the terrorists and their leaders.”
He added, “The attack at Dole was carried out after Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions showed a buildup of activities in the area after the relocation of some terrorists from nearby settlements of Kokiwa and Yale.
“Over the area, the ISR aircraft spotted no fewer than 20 terrorists in the area, which were taken out by the NAF attack aircraft.”
