The spokesman of the 3 Division Special Operation Battalion, Damaturu, Captain Eli Lazarus says 21 suspected members of the Boko Haram sect were killed in the gun battle with security forces that lasted over 8 hours Thursday, 24 October in Damaturu the Yobe State capital.
The spokesman in a statement today in Damaturu said 3 vehicles were also recovered from the insurgents during a severe encounter with the terrorists in various parts of Damaturu that lasted for several hours.
Other items recovered from the insurgents include; 4 AK47, 1 FN Rifle, 1 Rocket Propelled Grenade and 1 Rocket Propelled Grenade Bomb (RPG).
Others include;1 extra barrel of General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), several Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and 709 rounds of assorted ammunition.
The statement says the 24 hour curfew earlier imposed on the state is to enable security forces pursue the fleeing terrorists and advised residents to obey the curfew time and to divulge relevant information to security agents for the restoration of peace in the state.
Witnesses however said the insurgents burnt down the official residence of the commandant of the Mopol 41 Damaturu among other residential houses in the Mopol Barracks before carting away some arms and ammunition from the Armoury.
Other areas destroyed according to witnesses include; the Police Criminal Investigative Department (CID) as well as the area command located in the heart of Damaturu town.
It was also gathered that some officers and men as well as women and children of the Yobe State Police Command may have been killed in the attack on the mobile base as RPG was launched into some residential houses of the police mobile base.
Hospital sources also said the insurgents went away with two ambulances of the Sani Abacha General Hospital Damaturu as well as assorted drugs during the coordinated attack.
The suspected Boko Haram sect had yesterday launched a coordinated attack in Damaturu first, with attack on the military check point close to the mega station to signal the commencement of the attack.
