INEC office burnt, houses destroyed as Boko Haram hits Borno town

Thousands of people have been displaced in Gubio, a town in
Borno state, following an attack by suspected Boko Haram
insurgents.

Sources said the insurgents invaded the town around 5pm on
Wednesday. They were said to have shot sporadically and set many
houses on fire.

A soldier from the army’s 5 brigade stationed in Damasak told
TheCable that the insurgents have been around Gubio communities for
at least three months as a result of the relocation of the brigade
headquarters from the town.

“There is no soldier in Gubio, and that is why those guys moved
in. They burnt the INEC office and some other houses,” he said.

“As I am speaking, troops have been reinforced from the brigade
and now in face-off with the insurgents.”

Jack Vince, a journalist resident in Maiduguri, corroborated the
account of the soldier.

He told TheCable that the area had been without military
presence and that was why it made easy for the insurgents to storm
without any resistance.

“For about two weeks now no military post from Damasak on the
border with Niger Republic to my community in Maiduguri, Magumeri,
Kareto, Gubio and so on,” he said.

“Gubio was dislodged, soldiers ran to Damasak and Maiduguri
leaving that wide expanse of land unguarded.”

A source told TheCable that soldiers pulled out because the
locals were not cooperating with them in fighting the
insurgents.

“Thousands of people dislodged from Gubio have ran to the bush,
trying to find their way to Maiduguri,” he said.

In May, the insurgents shot 11 villagers during an attack on
Gundi village in Gubio.

Sagir Musa, army’s spokesman, did not immediately respond to a
message seeking development on the attack.

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