Fleeing residents of Bama in Borno State have vowed to continue to sleep on streets in Maiduguri, the state capital, instead of returning home.

Most residents of the town were forced to flee their homes on Monday, when the Boko Haram sect stormed the town at about 5.00 a.m.

The residents, despite pleas from the state government to return home, insisted they would continue to sleep on streets in Maiduguri, which, they said was safer.

The locals, who were at the main road, along Bama road in Maiduguri, the state capital, told the Nigerian Tribune on Wednesday that they were safer in the streets of Maiduguri than in the comfort of their homes in Bama.

A resident, simply called Malam Kolomi, told the Nigerian Tribune during a visit to the camp that all of them knew why they fled their homes, adding that they did not want to go back.

“Everybody has a home and there is no place of comfort as home.

“Government has brought new school buses to convey us back home, some of us have agreed, but those of us who know the antecedent of the Boko Haram are saying it is too early to return home.

“If one is not a mad man, home is better than this situation we found ourselves, but the government has no knowledge of reasons we are refusing to go back home now,” he said.

Kolomi, who spoke in Hausa, also said “I ran from Bama to Konduga and, at 62, I am not supposed to have gone that much under normal circumstance, but for the fear of being slaughtered by those evil men.

“If all will go, I will remain here until normalcy returns, until our people are certain that we are not going into another danger,” he said.

Many of the locals also insisted that they were not ready to return home until they were assured of their safety. According to them, the deputy governor did not go to Bama, but was depending on reports from the security, which, to them, may not be the truth.

“The brave ones, who are saying all is well and that the insurgents have been chased away, should go first, then we will follow,” they said.

Borno gov rushes back from Sudan, UK

Following Monday’s renewed attacks by Boko Haram insurgents in some parts of Borno State, Governor Kashim Shettima, on Wednesday, abruptly cut short his official trips to Sudan and the United Kingdom (UK).

He returned to Nigeria on Wednesday.

The governor, who had left Nigeria on Sunday night, was scheduled to meet officials at a university in Sudan where 50 female citizens of the state currently undergo state-sponsored programme in Medicine.

He was also scheduled to hold assessment meetings with school authorities and 20 other students recently sponsored by the government for petroleum geo-sciences in UK.

Shettima returned and held crucial meetings in Abuja, in connection with happenings in Bama and rest of the state.

The governor also approved the formation and release of funds to a committee set up to coordinate distribution of relief materials to victims.

Shettima was scheduled to leave for Maiduguri on Wednesday, despite heightened fears about planned attacks on the state capital by the Boko Haram insurgents.

The military has imposed a curfew in Maiduguri, in response to the planned attack.

We’ve registered 26,932 displaced persons in Bama —NEMA
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), on Wednesday, said it has registered 26,391 internally displaced persons as a result of insurgency attack on Bama, Borno State.

Responding to enquiries by the Nigerian Tribune, the North-East information officer of the agency, Mallam Abdulkadir Ibrahim, said the influx into Maiduguri from Bama and neighbouring villages as a result of the the attack stood at 26,391 as of last count.

Ibrahim said the number was growing the hour, as people continued to troop into Maiduguri from Bama and neighbouring villages of Konduga and Kawuri.

He said the agency had started marking arrangements to ensure they were camped in Maiduguri and provided with adequate relief materials.

Boko Haram did not succeed in Bama —Military
Contrary to information that emanated from Bama on Tuesday that Boko Haram insurgents succeeded in overrunning the army barracks and took over the city, indications have emerged, showing that the military are still in control of the barracks.

Informed military sources confirmed this to the Nigerian Tribune on telephone.

Also, calls to some of the actors on ground revealed that though there were casualties on the side of the military forces in the barracks and other locations, the army was actually able to withstand the insurgents and repel their attacks.

It was, however, confirmed that a Nigerian Air Force fighter jet actually dropped a bomb in the barracks, owing to information that many of the Boko Haram insurgents, disguising as civilians, had infiltrated the premises.

The source added that some civilians, as well as soldiers whose figure could not be ascertained, died in the bombing of the barracks, adding, however, that it was due to communication lacuna between the pilots and commanders on the ground. It was reliably gathered that while some compatriots were mourning the death of their colleagues in the battle, others were visibly elated that the combined efforts of the troops and the Air Force successfully dislodged Boko Haram from taking over Bama.