Musdapha Ilo, Maiduguri

Residents of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, are on red alert as Boko Haram insurgents intensify their resolve to invade the town.

The insurgents, who last Saturday attacked and razed down Dalori village, few kilometres from the state capital, raided two more villages on Friday, killing four persons and setting several houses on fire.

According to villagers in Mairi and Malari, the insurgents attacked Mairi around 8:00pm killing a teenage boy and four women, who were trapped in a burning house.

When they were done at Mairi, they proceeded to Malari, which is a short distance away but met a deserted village, as residents took off following sounds of gunshots in the other village. The insurgents decided to set the village on fire.

Abba Yusuf, from Mairi, said the teenager was shot at a local Islamic school where he was a student.

Our reporter met hundreds of villagers from the two villages heading towards Maiduguri and they said they had to flee because they thought the insurgents might want to come back to finish what they started.

Saidu Dangana, who lives in Maiduguri, said normal activities are going on but called on the government to completely rout the insurgents before declaring victory.

“They (Boko Haram) may be trying to tell the world and Nigerian government particularly that they are still very much around. I think it was ill-advised to say you have technically defeated the group when they can still be found right around Maiduguri, not to talk of far away from here,” Dangana said.

Boko Haram has recently upped its attacks, despite the federal government saying the group has been defeated.