We Have Recaptured Bama....Military...Its A Lie ...Residents

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has debunked the assertions by the Borno Elders’ Forum (BEF) on Wednesday that Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, is under siege and has been surrounded by Boko Haram terrorists, thereby causing panic amongst the residents some of whom are alleged to have fled the city.

It has also assured Nigerians that the ongoing offensive through sustained aerial bombardment and complementary ground assault has helped to halt the terrorists’ advance with most of their structures and strongholds destroyed in North-east towns like Gwoza, Bama, Michika and others.

DHQ was responding to a news item yesterday in which the forum announced that the Borno State capital had been surrounded by the insurgents and called on the federal government to save the state and others in the North-east from total destruction by the marauding sect.

The forum had decried the horror, death, destruction and misery that had been visited on North-eastern Nigeria and particularly Borno State by Boko Haram, warning that the sect had strategised and completely surrounded the city of Maiduguri.

BEF further warned that it was apparent that the sect’s imminent target was to take the city of Maiduguri, noting that almost half of the population of Borno now resides in Maiduguri.

However, DHQ’s claim that Boko Haram had been uprooted from Bama was debuked by fleeing residents from the town who alleged that the military was disseminating half-truths about the true position of things in Borno’s second largest city.

This is just as the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group, 150 days after the kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, yesterday called on the federal government to intensify efforts to rescue the girls.

Reacting to the statement by the Borno elders, the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major-General Chris Olukolade, in response to inquiries yesterday, said such statements are designed to create a sense of insecurity in the city. 

“The statement on Maiduguri was clearly intended to cause panic in the city and the nation,” Olukolade said.

He assured Nigerians that “all facets of the security arrangements for the defence of Maiduguri have been upgraded to handle any planned attack or attempt to disrupt the prevailing peace in the city and its environs”.

According to the Defence spokesman, “This kind of statement is alarmist and uncalled for in view of the efforts and state of alertness.
“Citizens are nevertheless enjoined to remain vigilant as they go about their lawful businesses.”

DHQ, through a statement on its twitter handle, further assured Nigerians that the military had made crucial gains in the contested towns of Michika, Gamboru Ngala, Gwoza and Mubi, amongst others.

The Defence authorities said most of the affected areas had been stabilised and the insurgents decimated.

According to the statement @DefenceInfoNG: “UPDATE: Situation in Mubi, Michika, Bazza, Gulak, Gwoza, Bama, Gamboru Ngala and other parts of the North-east is being stabilized...as highly coordinated Air & Land OPs are ongoing.
“The efforts are yielding impressive results in the overall move to rid the areas of terrorists.”