The Nigeria army Thursday imposed a
dusk-to-dawn curfew on the restive
northeastern town of Maiduguri in the
aftermath of a Boko Haram attack on the
city, a military statement said.
“In view of the recent development within
Maiduguri metropolis a 24-hour curfew is
hereby imposed in the city,” army
spokesman Colonel Tanko Gusau said in the
statement.
“This is done to protect lives and properties
of innocent and law-abiding people of
Maiduguri,” capital of Borno state.
Boko Haram fighters launched an attack on
the city on Wednesday but were repelled
by Nigerian troops after intense clashes,
residents and the army have said.
Dozens of militants armed with heavy guns
and rocket-propelled grenades stormed the
northern outskirts of the city near Giwa
military base, shooting and firing explosives
indiscriminately, local witnesses told AFP.
The army said in a statement its soldiers
had fought off “a band of terrorists” and
that two bombs carried by female suicide
bombers were detonated ahead of the
attack.
There was no immediate information on
any casualties.
The assault was the first on Maiduguri after
a three-month lull following sweeping
offensives on Boko Haram strongholds by a
regional coalition of troops from Nigeria,
Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Sources said the assailants had made
attempts to overrun a military facility, the 21
armoured brigade, which was attacked last
March 14.
The army said that the situation was now
under control
A member of the civilian vigilantes assisting
the Nigerian military in the fight against
Boko Haram said the attack could have been
a reprisal for the losses incurred by the
extremists in a Tuesday offensive on their
camp some 40 kilometres (25 miles)
outside the city.
“The attack was from all indication in
response to the huge casualties Boko
Haram suffered yesterday in the military
operation on their camp in Mafa area in
which some women and children were
rescued,” said the vigilante who asked not
to be named.
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