Boko Haram hits Dapchi, set houses on fire

Boko Haram fighters are currently attacking residents of Dapchi, the Yobe town where more than 100 schoolgirls were abducted on February 19, 2018.

A security source disclosed this, saying the insurgents have burnt the houses of some residents who fled the town.

“They came in many vehicles and are patrolling the town as I speak to you,” the source said over the phone.

Another source revealed that many residents are taking refuge inside the bush.

Anka Aliyu, a resident of Damaturu, the state capital, said mobile lines to Dapchi have been unreachable since reports of Boko Haram fighters storming the town this evening.

A soldier, who preferred anonymity disclosed that for some months now, villages around Dapchi have been alerting security agencies about the movement of Boko Haram fighters.

“They have been complaining about the movement of the terrorists who they said go about sometimes in the evening or early in the morning,” the soldier said.

Commuters from northern parts of Yobe to Damaturu have reportedly been forced to abandon the Dapchi-Damaturu road because of escalating attacks by Boko Haram.

People travelling to Damaturu from six local government areas now go through Potiskum, a longer route.

Dapchi, headquarters of Busari local government area of Yobe, came under spotlight at the time of the abduction of the students of Government Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC).

The insurgents had returned all but five of the students who died in captivity and Leah Sharibu, who was said to have been denied freedom for refusing to renounce her Christian fate.

Sharibu has still not been released till date.