By Sam Kayode
Nigerian troops have taken back a forward military base at Banki town which was over run by insurgents last week.
Sources told this reporter that although the troops had to retreat from the frontline when the insurgents came in their hundreds last Thursday, they had recaptured their base and the town respectively.
This reporter learnt that in the process of retreating from the heavy fire, two soldiers may have paid the supreme sacrifice in the border town which is about 133km from Maiduguri and just over two km into Cameronian territory.
In their usual trade mark of shooting sporadically whenever they have a desperate target of any community four civilians also died while five others sustained bullet wounds and have since been rushed to the nearest hospital for treatment.
Thousands of residents fled to Cameroon when the insurgents appeared on Thursday but reliable Intel as at Saturday morning indicated that majority of them have returned after the insurgents withdrew from the occupied military base by 5.00am on Friday.
The Boko Haram insurgents were alleged to have stolen heaps of ammunition while retreating after the attack on Banki town, which destabilized the troops in the front line in Borno State.
Meanwhile the commanding officer name withheld who was alleged to have tactically retreated leaving residents who fled to neighbouring Amchide community in Cameroon behind have since been calling on the civilians to return to the Nigerian territory.
This ugly development of last week has left some residents deeply shaken and disheartened while others who are used to the back and fourth between troops and insurgents have cautiously returned to face the recent reality from available Intel that the insurgents are desperately regrouping to rubbish the progress made so far by the combined efforts of the Nigerian military.
Security watchers have suggested that border communities like Banki of Bama council area and Gamboru of Ngala can only be permanently pinned down if the international forces can support efforts to stabilize such towns and protect civilians from further harm.
The Nigeria military has been under tremendous pressure to stabilize the Hadin Kai theatre in spite of shortages of troops which they sometimes ration because there has not been a deliberate policy by the military high command to increase boots on the ground based on the needs of the theatre.
And that is why boundary Commanders make do with what they have pinning their territories and sometimes retreating when outnumbered only to regroup and return to their forward operational bases in the frontline.
