The Boko Haram sect has seized an army base in Baga, Borno State.
The Baga which was sized by the insurgents on Sunday is regarded as the headquarters of a multinational force comprising troops from Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon, although only Nigerian troops are actually stationed there.
Witnesses said the troops fled the army base very close to the shores of Lake Chad after the terrorists began their relentless attack on Saturday.
No word has been officially said by the military regarding the takeover.
Over 10,000 people were killed by the terrorist in year 2014, according to a count by the Council on Foreign Relations in November.
It is the gravest threat to Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, and a headache for President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of an election on Feb. 14 where he is being challenged by opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler seen as tough on security.
Boko Haram began its fight in Nigeria five years ago in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, demanding for an Islamic state while condemning western education. The group now has wide following throughout the northeast and across Nigeria’s borders on the Cameroonian, Nigerien and Chad axis.
The terrorists turned their attention to Baga town early in year 2013when they attacked the town and killed dozens of civilians, in a very gory battle to take over the town from the Nigerian military.
On Wednesday, the New Year’s Eve, gunmen suspected to be members of the deadly sect hit Malari village abducting 40 boys and young men. The more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in April are also yet to be accounted for after 266 days.
