By Musdapha Ilo, Maiduguri

More than five thousand residents of Monguno in Borno State have been displaced by last weekend’s terrorist attack by Boko Haram insurgents on the town.

This was confirmed by officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, in Borno State who said that many of the fleeing residents have so far been registered at an Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, quickly established for them.

NEMA’s spokesman in the Northeast, Abdul-Kadir Ibrahim, said that many more fleeing residents of Monguno which has now been taken over by the insurgents are expected to take refuge in the camp.

Ibrahim disclosed that the state government provided a yet to be completed housing estate along Gubio Road on the outskirts of Maiduguri to serve as temporary shelter for the displaced persons.

“At the moment we have registered the 5,000 persons and we are expecting more, we have put the needed materials that we make them settle to their lives at the camp,” Ibrahim said.

Boko Haram gunmen attacked and took over Monguno on Saturday night and are now headquartered at the military base in the town.

The insurgents are said to have hoisted Boko Haram flags in strategic locations of the fallen town which is about 135 kilometres to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.