Eight feared killed as Boko Haram attacks military base

At least eight soldiers were reportedly killed in a Yobe State village after suspected Boko Haram gunmen launched an attack on a military base, sources said.

An army spokesperson, Kayode Ogunsanya, confirmed the attack but declined details on the actual casualty.

“Yes, there was an attack and we repelled it,” Mr. Ogunsanya, a colonel, and spokesman of 3-Division Jos, said; adding that “there was casualty on both sides.”

The attack, according to sources, took place at a village called Sasawa in Damaturu Local Government Area.

A ranked officer, who pleaded anonymity, told PREMIUM TIMES that one of the slain soldiers was an officer and that a civilian was among those killed when the insurgents attacked on Tuesday.

“I can authoritatively confirm to you that there was an attack in the early hours of yesterday at Sasawa and eight military personnel, including an officer as well as a civilian, were killed during the raid,” he said.

The source also said some others could not be accounted for as at the time he was speaking.

He said the attackers who came with seven gun trucks “overran the military base having taken the soldiers off guard.”

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Abdulmaliki Sumonu, earlier confirmed to journalists that the village was attacked on Tuesday night.

“The attack happened on Tuesday night; we are still working on the details,” Mr. Sumonu said.

A resident of Sasawa, Adamu Lawan, also confirmed the attack in a phone interview with journalists.

Mr. Lawan called on the military hierarchy to do something about the hideouts of the insurgents which he said was well known to both the civilians and the military.

“I am afraid many of the security forces may have been killed because they (insurgents) laid siege for very long time, and the shooting was too much.”
Sasawa is an agrarian community some located 36 km north of Damaturu, the state capital.

The village was once under the captivity of Boko Haram before it was liberated by soldiers.

The latest attack is the first in recent times by the Boko Haram in Yobe State.

The group’s insurgency has caused about 100,000 deaths since 2009.