24-hour Curfew in Damaturu As Battle Rages Between Islamist Militants And JTF

The Yobe state government this morning imposed a 24-hour curfew on Damaturu, the state capital following the continued violence which began around 5:00pm on Monday.

Daily Trust can report that up to the time of filing this update, gun fire is still being heard from some parts of the besieged town.

A release signed by the governor's Special Assistant on Information and Press Affairs, Abdullahi Bego, movement in other parts of the state has also been restricted as an added security measure. The 10pm to 6am curfew in Potiskum also remains in place.

Daily Trust learnt from a hospital source that the corpse of a Mobile Policeman was brought into the Sani Abacha General Hospital a few hours ago as well three wounded policemen. The corpse of a soldier was brought in around dawn. Calls placed to the JTF to confirm these have not been answered yet.

Gun fire can still be heard just outside the perimeter fence of the hospital, the hospital source said.

Civilian death and wounded toll is still unavailable as residents cannot leave their locations to move the dead and wounded. Eyewitnesses say there are corpses on the streets.

Another school at Ajiyari has also been set on fire in addition to the four said to have been burnt by this morning. An eyewitness had confirmed seeing Pompomari Primary School and a 3 bedroom primary school along Gujba road in flames. There are also yet to be confirmed reports that Bindigari Primary School and Central Primary school, both also in Damaturu, have been set on fire.

A hospital source at the Sani Abacha General Hospital, Damaturu told Daily Trust that a soldier was brought in dead during the night. He said the soldier was said to have fallen off a moving vehicle and died as a result of injuries sustained from the fall. No other casualty has been brought in. Many of their previous patients had also run away from the hospital following the initial assault launched around it on Monday evening.

Monday

Residents said crisis erupted around 5.00pm on Monday  and continued unabated, a development that forced the state capital to a standstill as people scampered for safety while thick smoke and raging flames enveloped the skies.
According to witnesses, the Joint Task Force (JTF) had engaged the attackers numbering over 100 in a gun duel into the night. One report said the attackers were heading for the private residence of the state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, while another report said they were heading for the governor’s official residence along Maiduguri Road.

“We are on top of the situation...We actually arrested a member of the Boko Haram who was about planting an explosive somewhere,” he said.

He said JTF operatives had also discovered a hideout of the sect members at a primary school in Sabon Fege. “We have mobilized our men to the site,” he said.

No group claimed responsibility as at press time but the attacks mirrored the pattern of onslaught being perpetrated by members of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram.

Sources said yesterday’s clamp down was sparked off by the arrest of a suspected member of the Boko Haram earlier in the day in Damaturu, who allegedly died in custody of security operatives.

It was also learnt from reliable sources that about 25 members of the Boko Haram sect were arrested at Yindiski area in Potiskum, 120km away from the state capital.

A source at the Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital, Damaturu confirmed that trouble started at the hospital around 5pm when some soldiers took a suspected member of the sect to the hospital for treatment.

“He was brought to the Accident and Emergency section with some bullet wounds for treatment. He was alive when they brought him. However, when we were about treating him, we heard endless gunshots behind the perimeter fence of the hospital. Some of the soldiers mobilized to the direction of the gunshots and fired back while the remaining soldiers took the suspect away,” the source said.

“It was from here that the fighting escalated to many parts of the city in what looked like a series of coordinated attacks,” the source added.

Speaking in low voices, many residents told Daily Trust by phone that yesterday’s attack may likely be more devastating than the November 4th, 2011 spontaneous attacks in Damaturu which left many people dead and reduced many buildings and symbols of authority to shreds.

Resident Maryam Ali said there was fighting between suspected gunmen and operatives of the Joint Task Force at Sabon Fegi area where the private residence of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam is located.

Sounds of blasts and gunshots soon manifested in other areas, including Nayinawa, Gwange, Gashua Road, Ali Marami as well as settlements in the western and eastern bypass of Damaturu.

“I am afraid to tell you that the assailants have probably  attacked the governor’s  private house in Sabon Fegi,” Mohammed  Sani, a resident of the area said, adding that he saw a thick smoke from  the direction  of the house where Governor Gaidam stays with his family.

Daily Trust also gathered that a police outpost located close to the governor’s private residence was destroyed by the ravaging explosives of the gunmen.

The number of people killed and those injured could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report.