Nigerian soldiers flee as Boko Haram captures more territory in Adamawa

Boko Haram on Monday expanded the territory it controls in Adamawa when it captured the town of Maiha, residents have told PREMIUM TIMES.

Maiha is about 25 kilometres from Mubi, the commercial town captured by the insurgents in Adamawa last week. Maiha is also about 200km from Yola, the state capital.

Even before the town fell to the insurgents, it was already a shadow of itself as commercial and social activities were paralyzed. People were already leaving the town due to its proximity to Mubi.

Fleeing residents said they saw many soldiers running away from the area with some of them hitch-hiking in residents’ vehicles. The soldiers told the residents that if the insurgents caught up with them, it would lead to instant death.

Another resident of the town, Garba Baba, said some fleeing soldiers begged him to assist them with civilian clothes so they would not be traced by the insurgents. The soldiers, he said, even threw their guns into the bush.

A similar situation to when the insurgents captured Mubi, they did not encounter any challenge from the Nigerian troops.

The military is yet to officially react to the Maiha takeover in Adamawa, which like Borno and Yobe, has been under a state of emergency since last year. The emergency rule has not deterred insurgents from carrying out terrorist activities leading to the death of thousands of people.

Several soldiers including senior officers are currently being investigated and disciplined for fleeing battles with insurgents.

On Monday, the Nigerian government, apparently frustrated by its inability to check the Boko Haram insurgency, accused the U.S. of not doing enough to assist the country.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, Ade Adefuye, expressed the government’s view when he received a delegation of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. ...PremiumTimes