Hunters liberate Mubi from Boko Haram fighters

Hunters liberate Mubi from Boko Haram fighters

Hunters andjujumen claimed yesterday to have retaken Mubi, Adamawa State’s second largest town and commercial engine-room from Boko Haram insurgents.
Governor Bala Ngilari confirmed that the locals had taken back the town – a development he attributed to the handiwork of God.
He said:”The insurgents have been flushed out of Mubi and are on the run, God is in this business of security in Adamawa State. You know in the last one week or so, the government has decided to be working with the vigilante group “Yan Baka”. Local hunters and vigilantes have been working hand in hand.”
Boko Haram held sway in the town and neigbouring towns since October 28, installing anamirand hoisting their flag. The insurgents renamed Mubi ‘Madinatul Islam’.
The hunters killed theamirand uprooted the sect’s flags.
The hunters reportedly took back Maiha on Tuesday and Mubi yesterday, according to witnesses who spoke to reporters in Yola on the telephone. But there was no independent confirmation of the hunters’ heroic act.
The hunters were said to have killed the Boko Haram Emir in Mubi – a man called Shuaibu Dan America, a prominent kerosine distributor in Mubi who aided the takeover of the town by the sect.
Thousands of hunters were said to have been mobilised for the battle against the sect.
The hometown of Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, which is five kilometers from Mubi, was also declared free of the sect, whose fighters reportedly fled from the hunters.
Many people who were driven from Mubi were jubilating when the news was broken in Yola.
One of thejujumen who led the battle, Mr. Young Moris, said on the telephone that the Boko Haram fighters were on the run towards Hong and Gombi. Sources in Hong and Gombi local government areas said Boko Haram men came into their towns, causing chaos. People scampered for safety.
A local government source, who pleaded for anonymity said: “About 30 minutes ago, Boko Haram fighters were in Hong town, shooting sporadically into the air as they passed by. This caused heavy traffic jams as people began running in various directions”.
Yesterday, troops weapons were seen moving towards Mubi.
An eye witness, Shallangwa, told reporters: “I saw many of the sect’s members running away, hanging their guns without shooting. Some of them stopped along Maiha Road, bought recharge cards and were making calls.”
Reports from Mubi said the hunters recaptured the 234 Army Battalion base and other strategic security formations, which fell into the hands of the insurgents.
All the flags hoisted by the insurgents were uprooted by the hunters, it was learnt.
Residents said the palace of the Emir of Mubi, which had been converted to the spiritual headquarters of the insurgents, had been taken over.