Nigeria - Fighter Jets, Over 2,000 Soldiers Storm Maiduguri In Renewed Boko Haram Clamp Down
https://nigeriaafrica1.blogspot.com/2013/05/nigeria-fighter-jets-over-2000-soldiers.html
Deployment follows state of emergency declaration by president in three states where Boko Haram have stepped up attacks.
Nigerian troops have moved into cities in the northeast where President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency as part of a campaign to rein in the armed group Boko Haram.
Residents said they had seen six army lorries ferrying soldiers into the cities of Yola, capital of Adamawa state, and Maiduguri, according to the Reuters news agency.
Jonathan, whose government has been battling Boko Haram fighters for years with limited success, declared the state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa on Tuesday during a televised address.
The group has recently stepped up attacks on government installations and security forces and is understood to control substantial territory around Lake Chad, where local officials have fled.
Reuters reported shops and schools were mostly shut and there were few people on the streets as troops made their way into the cities.
"What I saw this morning scared me," said one man in Maiduguri, Ahmed Mari. "I have never seen soldiers on the move quite like this before."
Another man, Kabir Laoye, voiced widespread fears that civilians could be caught up in the conflict. "There is a lot of apprehension about the state of emergency," he said.
Military officials in the northeast, and at headquarters in Abuja, the capital, were not immediately available for comment.
Residents said they had seen six army lorries ferrying soldiers into the cities of Yola, capital of Adamawa state, and Maiduguri, according to the Reuters news agency.
Jonathan, whose government has been battling Boko Haram fighters for years with limited success, declared the state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa on Tuesday during a televised address.
The group has recently stepped up attacks on government installations and security forces and is understood to control substantial territory around Lake Chad, where local officials have fled.
Reuters reported shops and schools were mostly shut and there were few people on the streets as troops made their way into the cities.
"What I saw this morning scared me," said one man in Maiduguri, Ahmed Mari. "I have never seen soldiers on the move quite like this before."
Another man, Kabir Laoye, voiced widespread fears that civilians could be caught up in the conflict. "There is a lot of apprehension about the state of emergency," he said.
Military officials in the northeast, and at headquarters in Abuja, the capital, were not immediately available for comment.
