Boko Haram Threatens Seven-Day Bloodbath

The Defence Headquarters has said its Special Forces are focusing on the new terrorist threats in Borno State through ongoing land and air patrols in Bama and Gwoza.

The army said available information and intelligence were being used to trail terrorists that were regrouping to destabilise the areas, adding that some of them had been apprehended.

After special forces dislodged them from their Sambisa Game Reserve hideout, Boko Haram insurgents had reportedly dispatched threat letters to residents of Bama and Gwoza, warning of bloodbath in seven days and forcing them to flee their homes.

The sect had in the letters said to be written in Kanuri and Hausa languages, warned residents of the towns, who are mainly civil servants, to resign their jobs and burn their employment documents or risk being consumed by the impending war.

Some of the Boko Haram insurgents, who were dislodged from their enclaves in northern and central Borno, were believed to have regrouped on Gwoza hills and in Mandara mountains in southern Borno.

The Director, Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade, however said on Sunday that there is no cause for alarm, as the special forces would deal with the insurgents, whom he described as miscreants.

According to him, the troops on the ground are doing all that is necessary to contain the new threats and ensure that lives and property are protected.

When asked if more troops would be deployed, Olukolade said deployment of troops was a continuous exercise that would be done when the need arose, but he was not sure there would be a need for that now.

“Threats by the group are being duly addressed by ongoing patrols of the special forces on land and air. That area is now under a special focus and every available information is being used to trail any terrorist attempting to team up for any kind of operation or threat against citizens,” he said.