More than 5,000 people have fled northeast Nigeria into Cameroon after Boko Haram militants seized the border town of Kirawa in Borno state, residents and community leaders said on Friday.
Borno, the centre of a 16-year insurgency by Boko Haram and its ISWAP offshoot, has seen a surge in attacks this year targeting civilians and security forces. Insurgents have briefly overrun army bases and communities before being pushed back once reinforcements arrive.
Thursday night’s raid forced district head Abdulrahman Abubakar to abandon his palace, which was torched along with a military barracks and dozens of homes. “I was left with no option but to flee to Cameroon,” he told Reuters by phone. “Residents boarded trucks to seek refuge across the border, while others ran to Maiduguri,” the state capital.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility and circulated a video showing fighters setting the barracks ablaze while chanting “victory belongs to God.”
Residents said Kirawa is now deserted. “Boko Haram is in control,” said Dauda Hassan, who escaped to Pulka, a nearby town hosting Nigerian troops.
The assault follows a Sept. 19 attack on the border town of Banki, where militants overran a barracks, forced soldiers to flee and seized weapons.
Yakubu Mabba Ali Kirawa, who leads the town’s development association, urged urgent military reinforcement, saying local vigilantes and residents are the only security presence after a multinational task force withdrew following an August attack.