Troops, hunters flush out Boko Haram in Gombi, Hong

By Ibrahim Abdul’ Aziz
Yola

Locals and security sources yesterday said Nigerian troops, local hunters and other volunteers of the civilian JTF (People Resistance Force) were able to flush out rampaging Boko Haram insurgents and liberated the town of Gombi and Hong in Adamawa state.
Blueprint gathered that the troops had secured the towns and had restored normalcy to the area as at least 10 soldiers and scores of Boko Haram fighters were reported dead after a fierce gun battle between the two forces in Gombi which had been under the sect’s control since last week.

Gombi, seen as an entry point to Yola, the state capital, was stormed by the militant sect last Thursday with residents trapped.
The military authorities had earlier deployed helicopter gunships and a large number of troops at Gombi to contain a surprise turn-out of large number of insurgents in the area after the recapture of Mubi from them.
Residents said the insurgents took on the troops who wanted to reclaim the town in a shoot-out but were flushed out after a fierce gun battle.

“I can’t say the number of casualties during the fight but the sect members left the place,” a resident, Garba Abubakar, said.
Garba said though there were air strikes by the Nigerian troops, civilian JTF and local hunters had assisted and “there is significance improvement.’’
Also corroborating, a trapped resident of Hong, Patience David, said, “The terrorists who attacked our town have been effectively flushed out.

“The subsequent mopping up operation is still ongoing, as troops and hunters continue the pursuit of fleeing terrorists and arrest of the wounded.”
She said the troops carrying out a mop-up operation were in pursuit of fleeing insurgents and were making success, adding, “We heard that the troops have since moved down to Pella.”

In the meantime, dozens of hunters and other volunteers are travelling to the northern part of the state to join the battle against Boko Haram and assist the people’s resistance forces to regain all the territories captured by the insurgents.
The secretary of the local hunters union in Adamawa, Mr. Philip James, said: “The volunteers have so far scored great and unprecedented victories against the terrorists, sending them fleeing from liberated towns.
“You know, after they were pursued, Boko Haram terrorists fled Maiha and Mubi last Thursday south to Gombi and Hong from where they planned to advance to Yola.
“Some of the terrorists also fled Adamawa north through Chibok and holed up in a school in Manjakwa, Hawul local government; that’s why we are now mobilising across the North-east to all join hands with hunters and civilian JTF from other states and assist in fighting the insurgents.”