Boko Haram fighters on Friday invaded and took over Marte, a town on the northern border of Borno state.

The invasion and recapture of the town came only a few days after a similar push on Maiduguri was repelled by Nigerian troops.

Marte, some 177 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital, was taken over by the insurgents after hundreds of the Boko Haram fighters launched a massive attack.

It was not immediately known if they were engaged by Nigerian military forces just as the casualty figures arising from the attack are not known.

The ranks of the Boko Haram terrorist group have been greatly decimated in the past few weeks following a full scale campaign by the Nigerian military, culminating in the recapture of swaths of territory held by the insurgents and the routing of Sambisa Forest, the last stronghold of the insurgents.

Until the attempted invasion of Maiduguri, it was obvious that the insurgency group had been badly affected by recent military operations as the group resorted to hitting at soft targets using mainly female suicide bombers.

The resurgence of Boko Haram attacks and the boldness with which they were carried out have come as a surprise to many including the deputy governor of Borno State, Zannah Mustapha, who confirmed the recapture of Marte by Boko Haram terrorists during a press conference in Maiduguri.

“It is sad as we have been made to understand that Marte is today (Friday) completely fallen under the control of the insurgents, which to us is a very huge setback,” he stated.

The deputy governor also raised an alarm that 600 about women and girls working for the insurgents as suicide bombers might have sneaked into Maiduguri during Wednesday’s attack on the capital city with the sole aim of wreaking havoc.

He said that it was intelligence obtained about the large number of female suicide bombers that informed the imposition of round the clock curfew on the city and that nit was meant to protect lives and property.

“Initially we were opposed to the suggestion made by the military; but when we received a security report that about 600 women have been kitted as suicide bombers and are to be sneaked into Maiduguri during the attack, couple with the gory pictures of some of the women who detonated themselves during the attack, we had no option than to okay the curfew,” Mustapha explained.

“But the curfew has been relaxed from noon to about 5pm to ease the hardship and afterwards it may be reviewed. Our government is going to do everything humanly possible by supporting the military to see that Maiduguri and other secured part of Borno state is not attacked or taken over by the insurgents,” he added.

Expressing dismay about the situation, the deputy governor, however, asked the people of the state to be patient, assuring that all would be done to safeguard the state from insurgents’ attacks.

He disclosed that with the successes recorded against Boko Haram in the past few week, the state government was planning the reopening of the Maiduguri Airport but lamented that the recent attacks have put paid to that move.

“We want people to be patient with the government and the security; though 90 percent of our communities have been liberated but the war is not over yet. We though all is over, as we were even trying to fight for the reopening of the airport which was almost okayed by the national security adviser before we heard about the attack on Maiduguri. It was indeed a huge setback for us in Borno State, he stated.

Marte town, headquarters of Marte local government of Borno State, was attacked and taken over by Boko Haram in mid – 2014 but was recaptured by the Nigerian military in February this year.

Boko Haram fighters on Friday invaded and took over Marte, a town on the northern border of Borno State.

The invasion and recapture of the town came only a few days after a similar push on Maiduguri was repelled by Nigerian troops.

Marte, some 177 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital, was taken over by the insurgents after hundreds of the Boko Haram fighters launched a massive attack.

It was not immediately known if they were engaged by Nigerian military forces just as the casualty figures arising from the attack are not known.

The ranks of the Boko Haram terrorist group have been greatly decimated in the past few weeks following a full scale campaign by the Nigerian military, culminating in the recapture of swaths of territory held by the insurgents and the routing of Sambisa Forest, the last stronghold of the insurgents.

Until the attempted invasion of Maiduguri, it was obvious that the insurgency group had been badly affected by recent military operations as the group resorted to hitting at soft targets using mainly female suicide bombers.

The resurgence of Boko Haram attacks and the boldness with which they were carried out have come as a surprise to many including the deputy governor of Borno State, Zannah Mustapha, who confirmed the recapture of Marte by Boko Haram terrorists during a press conference in Maiduguri.

“It is sad as we have been made to understand that Marte is today (Friday) completely fallen under the control of the insurgents, which to us is a very huge setback,” he stated.

The deputy governor also raised an alarm that 600 about women and girls working for the insurgents as suicide bombers might have sneaked into Maiduguri during Wednesday’s attack on the capital city with the sole aim of wreaking havoc.

He said that it was intelligence obtained about the large number of female suicide bombers that informed the imposition of round the clock curfew on the city and that nit was meant to protect lives and property.

“Initially we were opposed to the suggestion made by the military; but when we received a security report that about 600 women have been kitted as suicide bombers and are to be sneaked into Maiduguri during the attack, couple with the gory pictures of some of the women who detonated themselves during the attack, we had no option than to okay the curfew,” Mustapha explained.

“But the curfew has been relaxed from noon to about 5pm to ease the hardship and afterwards it may be reviewed. Our government is going to do everything humanly possible by supporting the military to see that Maiduguri and other secured part of Borno state is not attacked or taken over by the insurgents,” he added.

Expressing dismay about the situation, the deputy governor, however, asked the people of the state to be patient, assuring that all would be done to safeguard the state from insurgents’ attacks.

He disclosed that with the successes recorded against Boko Haram in the past few week, the state government was planning the reopening of the Maiduguri Airport but lamented that the recent attacks have put paid to that move.

“We want people to be patient with the government and the security; though 90 percent of our communities have been liberated but the war is not over yet. We though all is over, as we were even trying to fight for the reopening of the airport which was almost okayed by the national security adviser before we heard about the attack on Maiduguri. It was indeed a huge setback for us in Borno State, he stated.

Marte town, headquarters of Marte local government of Borno State, was attacked and taken over by Boko Haram in mid – 2014 but was recaptured by the Nigerian military in February this year.