The Nigerian military has relocated female soldiers from Maiduguri following intelligence reports which indicated that Boko Haram was regrouping in Maha town in anticipation of a major offensive against Maiduguri. The female soldiers are being withdrawn from their army formations in the entire Borno state and redeployed to Abuja – the federal capital.
Boko Haram has almost encircled Maiduguri with the only exception being the Maiduguri-Kano highway and its adjacent sliver of land. All the other access routes out of Maiduguri have either been captured or destroyed by the terror group. The army has been criticized for not attacking Boko Haram terrorists at their assembly point. This failure has enabled Boko Haram to attack Maiduguri today.
The predawn offensive by Boko Haram breached the defense perimeter of Southern Maiduguri thus enabling the terrorists to gain a light foothold on the city. Nigerian military supported by civilian vigilantes are currently combating the terrorist in the southern sector of the city but fear has gripped the whole city. Most of the fighting is occurring in the Dalwa suburb.
Boko Haram has also deployed artillery pieces outside the city, and a heavy artillery barrage has hit the city. The terrorist are also opening other fronts around the city in an attempt to overwhelm the defense perimeter put up by the Nigerian military. The Nigerian soldiers are putting up a strong fight but there are indications that terrorist formations are permeating through the defenses and entering the city.
Intelligence reports show that most of the weapons –including the artillery pieces – being used by Boko Haram for this attack are the ones the terror group captured from Monguno barracks. The terror group last attack on Maiduguri almost a week ago was repulsed by a coalition of Nigerian troops, vigilante groups and armed citizens. However, a simultaneous assault on Mondugo saw the terror group overran the regional military barracks and capture its entire arsenal of weapons.
