A lot of Properties were reportedly destroyed with thousands of people rendered homeless after suspected Boko Haram insurgents unleashed mayhem on residents of Gubio, a town in Borno state.
Sources said the insurgents invaded the town at about 5pm on Wednesday shooting sporadically and setting many houses on ablaze.
According to a soldier from the army’s 5 brigade stationed in Damasak, the insurgents have been staying around Gubio communities for at least three months due to 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, also buttressed the claim of the soldier.
He said that the area had been without military presence and that was why the insurgents had a field day.
“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 said 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.