Nigerian army recaptures Chibok town

The Nigerian military has retaken Chibok, a town in Borno State, where nearly 300 schoolgirls were abducted on April 14, from the extremist Boko Haram sect.

The terrorist sect had taken control of the troubled town on Thursday night.

But the spokesperson of the Army Division in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, said the Army has retaken the town and driven the terrorist away.

Sani Usman, a Colonel And Deputy Director Army Public Relations, said, “Troops of 7 Division Nigerian Army have recaptured Chibok town in Borno State from Boko Haram terrorists since yesterday.”

“The military is still carrying out mopping up operations in the surrounding environment. Chibok town is now fully secured”.

Villagers around Chibok town said they saw a large deployment of soldiers moving in from the direction of Damboa towards Chibok on Saturday morning.

“We saw large number of trucks filled with uniformed personnel moving towards Chibok; initially, we were scared but later realised they were soldiers as they did not harass us like the Boko Haram gunmen usually do”, said a resident who spoke on phone.

The extremist group, Boko Haram, has seized several towns lately in Borno and Adamawa State, driving out government soldiers and other security operatives and confiscating their arms.

On Thursday, the Adamawa State governor, Bala Ngilari, said local vigilante and hunters, backed by the military, reclaimed Mubi, the second most important town in Adamawa, nearly two weeks after the town fell to the insurgents.

Chibok became the centre of international attention in April after Boko Haram fighters stormed the town and took away nearly 300 female students from a government secondary school.

Majority of the girls remain in captivity more than six months after. About 57 either escaped or were released.

A recent claim by the Nigerian government that a ceasefire had been agreed with Boko Haram and that the girls will be returned to their families, turned out false.