Gunshots n Explosion Rips Through Yobe

Explosions and gunshot ripped through Damaturu, the Yobe state capital on Tuesday evening.

Residents said the incident started at about 8pm which forced many residents to remain indoors for safety of their lives.

Sources said the sound of gunshots and explosions were heard around Gujiba- school of nursing road at the entrance of the town south east of the metropolis.

Unconfirmed report has it that there was a security report which earlier revealed that terrorists had concluded plan to attack the city on Tuesday as troops were busy on alert to confront any possible attacks on the troubled city.

As at the time of going to press, the sound of explosions and gunshots were still on with virtually all streets deserted of motorists and passersby.

Also the Nigeria’s army said Tuesday that it had liberated 30 hostages held by Boko Haram, including 21 children and seven women, amid ongoing offensives against the extremists in the country’s northeast.

Army officials said the operation to free the captives took place in the town of Dikwa in Borno State, which had fallen to Boko Haram twice since April, and was recaptured by Nigerian troops last week.

“As a result of ongoing operations under the aegis of Operation Lafiya Dole to clear Dikwa and its environs from Boko Haram… (the) Nigerian Army yesterday rescued 30 persons from the hands of the terrorists,” army spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement.

“They include 21 children and a six-day-old infant, seven women including three nursing mothers, and two elderly male adults,” he said.

Dikwa is located around 90 kilometres (56 miles) east of Borno state capital Maiduguri.

Earlier Tuesday, 11 Boko Haram militants were killed in clashes with the military in a village in southern Borno state, a local resident and a member of the militia fighting alongside the army said.

Three militia fighters were also killed in the battle.

“On Monday afternoon around 2:00 pm (1300 GMT), Boko Haram gunmen on motorcycles attacked our village,” said Markus Yohana, a local militia member fighting the Islamists in the village of Dille.

Yohana said that soldiers ambushed the raiders as they tried to flee, killing 11.

Another local, Bitrus Damina, confirmed the account.

“Soldiers went after them and killed 11 of them in the bush,” Damina said.