At least 75 Boko Haram militants were killed by local hunters in Maiha Local Government area of Adamawa State yesterday, residents of the area have said.
According to local residents, about 75 members of the sect were allegedly killed by a combined force of hunters and a local vigilante group who subsequently liberated the town.
Maiha Local Government headquarters fell in the hands of the Boko Haram insurgents in an intense gun battle with the Nigerian troops on Monday.
The local hunters and vigilante group were reported to have overwhelmed the insurgents as they confronted the militants in their hundreds, killing dozens of the Islamists and recapturing the town. They also vowed to repel any further attacks on their town.
A Maiha resident, Mallam Sani Pella, said that before the attack on the insurgents, he saw about 10 truckloads of the local fighters heading towards Maiha.
One of the hunters said the capture of Mahia town on Monday by insurgents motivated the local hunters in the town to mobilise other hunters in neighbouring communities to team up against the insurgents in order to recapture the town. He said some of the insurgents were killed with bows and arrows.
“The hunters mobilized and gave the insurgents hot chase during which many Boko Haram sect members are killed,” Bello Ya’u, a resident of Maiha, said. ‘’We commend them for the gallant fight.”
Corroborating, Baba Dauda, a local hunter told our correspondent that the hunters made up their minds to fight because the insurgents had been maiming too many people.
“We had to wake up and fight the bastards that keep plaguing our societies killing innocents souls.
“People should brace up and start fighting them, we killed many of them. We are not afraid of being killed,” he added.
Following the attack, some residents of Maiha now fear reprisal attacks and are moving in droves to the capital of Adamawa, Yola.
However, the state co-ordinator of Civilian Joint Task Force, Bako Goni, said over 2,000 people, including youth vigilantes, local hunters, retired military, police and Para-military operatives, artisans and petty traders have signed up to confront Boko Haram insurgents in the state.
Mr. Goni said the volunteers resolved to use dane guns, sticks, bows and arrows to confront the insurgents, thereby complementing the efforts of Nigerian soldiers fighting the terrorists.
