Army commanders claim to have regained control of Gudumbali after Boko Haram seized it over the weekend

NIGERIAN Army commanders claim to have restored normality in Gudumbali town in Guzamala Local Government Area of Borno State after the area was attacked by Boko Haram yesterday who seized the area forcing thousands of local residents to flee.

Yesterday, terrorist sect Boko Haram overran Nigerian Army troops attached to Operation Lafiya Dole and displaced the residents of Gudumbali town. Local residents, who escaped from the fighting, explained that the terrorists captured the community after invading the area in large numbers and shooting sporadically.

Some residents were reportedly injured during the confusion, with a large number of the civilians and army personnel said to have fled to the Gubio area. It now appears, however, that the authorities have regained control of the area, having sent reinforcements in to repel the Boko Haram attack.

Gudumbali was attacked in November 2015 by the insurgents during which 144 soldiers were killed and it appears that yesterday's attack was a repeat of this. In July this year, Nigeria's chief of army staff, Lt General Tukur Buratai, unveiled a cenotaph in remembrance of the officers and soldiers who fell to Boko Haram in Gudumbali.

According to Brigadier Texas Chukwu, the director of Army Public Relations, government troops have flushed the terrorists out of the town. He said that combined troops of the 82 Division Task Force Brigade and 158 Task Force Battalion conducting counter-insurgency operations in northeastern Nigeria, had dealt with the Gudumbali threat.

Brigadier Chukwu added:  “The encounter took place when the insurgents attacked the community, set some buildings ablaze and quickly withdrew from the community. However, no human casualty was  recorded in the encounter and the troops have regrouped and normalcy has been restored.

"The troops have also been reinforced to dominate the general area. It will be recalled that Gudumbali is one of the communities in Borno that were recently reoccupied by internally displaced persons who had voluntarily returned to their ancestral homes, so the people of Gudumbali community and Guzamala Local Government Area in general are urged to remain calm and resilient as Operation Lafiya Dole troops tirelessly combat the terrorists."

He called on local people to maintain high level of vigilance and monitor strange faces to prevent fleeing Boko Haram terrorists from infiltrating and hibernating in their communities. According to Brigadier Chukwu, the good people of the northeast are assured of the unalloyed resolve of troops of Operation Lafiya Dole to continue to combat Boko Haram terrorists in the region.