have written to the 7th Division of the
Nigerian Army threatening to attack
Maimalari Barracks on Friday (today).
Investigations revealed that security had
been beefed up in the Maimalari
Barracks which has the Headquarters of
the 7th Infantry Division of the Artillery
Corps, the Ordinance, the Signal and
other crucial units of the Army in
Maiduguri.
It was gathered that while security
agents saw the letter as a ploy to instill
fear into security operatives, all efforts
were being made to ward off any attack
on the foremost military formation in
the North-East.
A source said that the insurgents might
have compelled one of the drivers to
get the letter to the military of their
plan to attack the barracks.
The source said that the letter was
written in Hausa Language.
"Yesterday, the Boko Haram sect wrote
that they would attack the Maimalari
Barracks. They wrote the letter in Hausa
Language to give the notification of their
coming.
"However, security operatives are
praying for them to come to the
barracks. The barracks is the biggest; it
is the cantonment in Maiduguri.
"The barracks accommodates, the 7th
Infantry Division, the Artillery,
Ordinance, Engineering, Signal and other
corps.
"People are even surprised how they
got the letter to the barracks; one
cannot rule out intimidation of one of
the drivers to get the letter to the
barracks.
"Soldiers are on the red alert. There are
many soldiers there who are waiting for
the attack. Soldiers are battle ready,"
the source said.
The current threat is coming barely after
the Boko Haram sect launched an attack
on Giwa Barracks, the Headquarters of
the 21 Artillery Brigade on March 15,
2014.
Authoritative military sources said that
over 350 insurgents were killed in that
attack while some soldiers were injured.
A soldier was also said to have lost four
children to the attack.
Our correspondent also gathered that
the Special Forces had taken over the
Gwoza Hills believed to be one of the
strongest hideouts of the sect in the
North-East.
Investigations revealed that the Special
Forces stormed the Gwoza Hills and
killed several insurgents in a combined
operation with the men of the Nigerian
Air Force on Wednesday.
The source said that a soldier was killed
in the attack while some others were
injured.
"There was an encounter in Gwoza Hills.
Troops have taken over the place; it
was another fierce encounter.
"A soldier was killed and some others
were wounded. On the part of the
insurgents, I can't give you the exact
casualty figure because the Air Force
was involved and bombs were used.
"Gwoza Hills is one of their strong
points. The Boko Haram took over the
entire place before the battle but
soldiers have taken over the place and
have captured some of their arms and
ammunition.
"That place is one of their main
operational bases; corpses are smelling
there. It is a joint operation involving
the Air Force and others.
"The insurgents hide under the hills to
launch attacks. It takes over three hours
to climb to the top of the hills in some
cases. The hills are massive," the source
said.
When our correspondent contacted the
Director of Defence Information, Maj.-
Gen. Chris Olukolade, he asked to be
called back as he was in a place where it
was not possible for him to give a
comment as of the time of filing this
story.
Meanwhile, the Chairman Governing
Council, National Human Rights
Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, in
Abuja on Thursday described the new
approach adopted by the security
agencies to fight terrorism as a welcome
development.
Odinkalu told the News Agency of
Nigeria that many approaches were
needed to tackle insurgency.
Reacting to the New Approach to
Countering Terrorism by the Office of
the National Security Adviser, he said
both soft and hard approaches were
required.
"You need the soft approach, de-
radicalisation, investment in community,
resilience and education to complement
the hard approach which is the military
approach,"he said.
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