The army had on Monday, January 26, 2015 lifted the 24-hour emergency restriction of movement which it imposed on Maiduguri, the capital of troubled Borno State following a serious exchange of gun duel between the Boko Haram insurgents and Nigerian troops.
The military high command revealed that scores of the insurgents were killed by the Nigerian troops who used sophisticated weapons during the encounter.
Announcing the development, Nigerian Army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman said, “The curfew imposed on Maiduguri has been lifted as from 6:00 am (0500 GMT). People can go about their legitimate business.”
The governor of the state, Kashim Shettima, while speaking with BBC Hausa on Monday, January 26, 2015 urged the citizens of the state to summon courage and goo about their normal activities as it was their land and they needed to claim ownership of it instead of abandoning it for the insurgents.
He said, “I call on the people of Borno State not to panic. This is our land. No fear, no flight, no retreat. We should not flee. We have a history dating back 1,000 years and I swear by Allah we are going to subdue them (Boko Haram).”
“It is bad in Monguno. I’ll not lie to you. People are trooping to Maiduguri. They are being held by the military outside the city. There is need for screening before they are allowed in to determine whether any of the people are militants.”
Meanwhile, an update by the Defence Headquarters stated that “more casualties have been recorded on the terrorists group as troops battles fleeing ones and reinforcement of soldiers at outskirts of Maiduguri, Konduga last night.”
It further said, “Substantial amounts of heavy weapons have been captured, as more terrorists died in the fight which lasted till early Monday morning. Our forces also recorded some casualty. Meanwhile, ground troops are in charge and Airforce patrol still ongoing.”
