Boko Haram Preparing For Massive Onslaught On Maiduguri

According to new security reports, Boko Haram militants may be
planning a massive attack on Maiduguri, the capital of Borno
State any time soon.
Nigerian troops on the move
This comes less than a week after Nigerian soldiers repelled a
daring attack and handed the insurgents a costly defeat last
Sunday.
READ ALSO: Boko Haram Fully Control Monguno – Escaped
Residents
According to Sahara Reporters, security and local sources say
that Boko Haram terrorists appeared to be regrouping to overrun
the strategic northeast city before commencement of Nigeria’s
general elections due to start on February 14.
Before the Islamist fighters struck last Sunday, residents of
some communities near Maiduguri said they had alerted the
Nigerian military that some insurgents were approaching along
the Dambua-Biu road near Allahganrino village. According to the
reported informants, the military had apparently paid no heed to
their warnings. A day later, Boko Haram attacked Maiduguri.
This account by the locals also corroborates the findings by
Amnesty International yesterday, January 28, 2015, that the
military command in Monguno had advance warning of the Boko
Haram attacks on 25 January. But the military
headquarters failed to take adequate action to protect civilians.
A soldier who fled Monguno after it was overrun by Boko haram
on Sunday told Sahara Reporters that the militants used to say
when they would storm towns and military barracks and carry
out such threats. He criticized commanders who boast about
working on intelligence, saying they had nothing to show for
such ostensible intelligence.
“We should stop defending all the time. There is [an] urgent need for
a counter-offensive against Boko Haram,” said a military source. He
alleged that the Islamist militants forewarned about their attacks on
Baga and Monguno, adding that he had experienced such pre-attack
warnings three times.
A resident of a village near Maiduguri said that he and other
residents had seen a large number of Boko Haram militants
arriving along Dikwa road in sports utility vehicles, motorcycles
and camels, adding that they had alerted military authorities as
well.
“We have received tips from some of the locals that they have
sighted the militants,” a security operative in the beleaguered city
told our correspondent.
A member of the civilian joint task force combating the Islamist
militants told Sahara Reporters that many of the local people
“have vowed to join in the fight to flush Boko Haram out. We are not
going to take things [lightly] with them. We are ready for them [Boko
Haram fighters]. Since they want to die, we shall kill them.”
READ ALSO : Buhari Condoles With Boko Haram Victims
However, some residents of Maiduguri say they have not been
able to “sleep with two eyes closed since last Sunday,” as one of
them stated. He added that the fall of Monguno barracks meant
that the militants now control various types of deadly weapons,
including artillery weapons with capacity to fire from long
distances. “We don’t know when they will come again, but they
have the weapons to cause major havoc,” said the resident.
It would be recalled that attacks by suspected members of the
Boko Haram on January 25, 2015, Sunday in Maiduguri was
foiled by soldiers. Scores of people including soldiers and
insurgents were killed in that decisive battle. The Nigerian Army
announced a 24-hour curfew following the Sunday attack.