Fears Over Boko Haram Relocation Of Abducted Chibok Girls From Sambisa Forest

BORNOThere were fears yesterday that Boko Haram terrorists may have relocated the over 200 abducted girls of Government Secondary School, Chibok and other abducted victims from Sambisa forest to their new haven in Balmo Forest, which borders Borno and Bauchi states.

Vanguard gathered that communities contiguous to Sambisa forest raised the alarm through phone messages when they saw a large number of Boko Haram militants leaving the dense jungle early in the day on Wednesday and driving towards the border town with Bauchi.

When Vanguard contacted a military source, it was learnt that the security agencies had started mapping out strategies to deal with the development while efforts are on to ensure security beef up in the areas where the insurgents were believed to be relocating to.

The apparent relocation of the insurgents follows an embarrassing incident two days ago when close to 500 Nigerian soldiers fled to neighbouring Cameroon in order to escape from a fierce contingent of Boko Haram militants that attacked Gamboru-Ngala, a major town near the border with Cameroon.

A text message sent by Vanguard last night to the Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade on the issue, was not responded to.

It will be recalled that the Chibok girls were abducted in April this year.

Security sources believed that the insurgents were relocating from Sambisa forest for fears of a major offensive by the military in a bid to rescue the abducted girls and demobilise their operational headquarters.