Nigerian Military Repels Suspected Boko Haram Attack On Maiduguri City

Nigeria’s military repelled multiple attacks by suspected Boko Haram militants on Borno state capital Maiduguri in the northeast, security sources said on Sunday, but the insurgents captured another Borno town.

NewsWireNGR recalls that President Jonathan was in Maiduguri on Saturday for his re-election campaign only for the insurgents to wage a fierce attack targeted at the city, which led to Presidential entourage trapped as a result of the battle.

The assault on Maiduguri, with a population of around two million, began just after midnight. Sources at two hospitals said at least eight people had died and 27, mostly civilians, had been injured. A second attempt to take the city’s airport in the afternoon was also repelled.

A raid on Monguno, 140 km (80 miles) north, began later in the morning and the town fell under militant control by the late afternoon.

The militants also simultaneously attacked another town, Konduga, which is 40 km (24 miles) from Maiduguri, but the military was able to repel the raid.

The army’s inability to quash the Sunni jihadist group is a major headache for President Goodluck Jonathan, who is seeking re-election in February and who visited the state capital on Saturday as part of his campaign. Opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari had been due to arrive on Monday.

The elections are expected to be the most hotly contested since the end of military rule in 1999 with many fearing violence in the aftermath, reports Reuters News Agency.