Nigerian Army Denies Boko Haram Take Over Of Baga Town

The Nigerian Army on Friday said Boko Haram terrorists had not taken over Baga town in Borno.

“Baga town is not in the hands of the Boko Haram. They contested it but they lost the contest,’’ Lamidi Adeosun, the Army’s Chief of Training and Operations said at a news conference in Maiduguri.

Mr. Adeosun, a Maj.-Gen., however, confirmed that as at Thursday, troops had engaged the terrorists in a fierce battle to repel them.

“They terrorised the town and attacked the Headquarters of the 7 Brigade of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) at about 7 p.m. on Wednesday,’’ he said.

Security sources had said that the insurgents took control of the town after a prolonged fighting, and that the military was sending reinforcements to try and dislodge them.

The fishing community fell to the group in 2015 but was retaken by the Nigerian military backed by the armed forces of Niger and Chad.