24-Hour Curfew on Damaturu

  Sunday Trust reports that the restriction of movement has grounded social and economic activities in Damaturu, the city that has witnessed the worst impact of the Boko Haram insurgency. A sizeable number of residents including students, civil servants and politicians have deserted the town for fear of the sect. Lieutenant Lazarus Eli, the spokesman […]

 

Sunday Trust reports that the restriction of movement has grounded social and economic activities in Damaturu, the city that has witnessed the worst impact of the Boko Haram insurgency.

A sizeable number of residents including students, civil servants and politicians have deserted the town for fear of the sect.

Lieutenant Lazarus Eli, the spokesman of TF told our correspondent on phone that the exercise was meant to “clean up the state capital of terrorists.”

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Eli, who said the exercise began around 5:30am yesterday revealed that a cache of arms had been uncovered from many hideouts of Boko Haram members.

“Soon after the commencement of the operations, some terrorists confronted our men but we succeeded in subduing them. No life was lost on both sides and the good news is that we have arrested 25 suspects.

“We have also seized large quantity of weapons, including RPGs and multi-purpose machine guns.

“The exercise will continue. We have restricted movement of people and vehicles.

“JTF will advise the state government on the right time to relax the curfew,” Eli said.

Our correspondent reports that the closure of all the entry points to Damaturu caused gridlock as motorists going to different parts of the country from Borno and neighbouring countries of Chad, Cameroon and Niger were stranded.

Residents in Damaturu have remained indoors.

Meanwhile, the attacks on telecommunication masts by the insurgents have grounded communication and aggravated the woes of the masses.