military base outside Baga near Lake Chad after
engaging troops in a fierce battle that lasted
several hours, witnesses said on Sunday.
“They (the militants) overwhelmed the troops
and forced them to abandon the base which the
gunmen took over,” local resident Usman
Danssubdu told AFP after fleeing to neighbouring
Chad following Saturday’s raids.
The base is used by the Multinational Joint Task
Force (MNJTF), which was established in 1998 to
battle cross-border crime but whose mandate was
expanded to fighting Boko Haram when the
Islamist group emerged.
The force is made up of troops from Nigeria as
well as Niger and Chad.
Hundreds of fear-stricken residents from Baga
and five other towns and villages have poured
into neighbouring Chad to escape Boko Haram
raids on their homes on the shores of Lake Chad,
witnesses said.
Residents of Kauyen Kuros, Mile 3, Mile 4, Baga,
Doron-Baga and Bundaram fled across the lake in
fishing boats and canoes into Chad following
hours-long attacks on Saturday by hundreds of
militants from the Islamist group.
“We are now seeking refuge in Gubuwa,
Kangallam and Kaiga villages inside Chad near
the border with Nigeria,” Dansubdu told AFP by
telephone from Gubuwa.
Suspected Boko Haram gunmen late Saturday
also raided the town of Babban Gida, 50
kilometres (30 miles) from Damaturu, the capital
of neighbouring Yobe state, according to
residents, who said they destroyed several
buildings.
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