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Reports have it that Boko Haram insurgents have captured Marte town, headquarters of Marte Local Government Area of Borno State.
Daily Trust, citing dependable sources reports that the insurgents stormed the Marte military base, 153 Task Force Battalion, around 6pm on Sunday, taking troops unawares, shooting sporadically and, in the process, razed “everything.”
The newspaper quoted a source who fled the base unscathed to Maiduguri, as saying: “We engaged them in a fierce encounter for about an hour.
“Initially, we were about getting victorious over them, but they overpowered us, and all troops in the burning base were set asunder, with all of us fleeing in all directions in the bush.”
He stressed: “I can tell you that we were about defeating them; but God knows the tactics they later deployed and the defeat turned against us; we all fled; they are in control of the town now.”
Another fleeing source was quoted as saying that “casualty figures cannot be confirmed on both sides, with all of us fleeing in all directions into the bush, and many of us finding their way to Maiduguri, and majority still roaming in the bush.”
Military authorities are yet to comment.