A 24-hour curfew was yesterday imposed on Damaturu, the Yobe State capital even as the Joint Task Force (JTF) said 25 suspected members of the Jama'atu Ahlis Sunnati Lidda'awati Wal Jihad also called Boko Haram, were arrested during a raid.
Sunday Trust reports that the restriction of movement has grounded social and economic activities in Damaturu, the city that has witnessed the worst impact of the Boko Haram insurgency.
A sizeable number of residents including students, civil
servants and politicians have deserted the town for fear of the sect.
Lieutenant Lazarus Eli, the spokesman of TF told our
correspondent on phone that the exercise was meant to "clean up the state
capital of terrorists."
Cont'd on pg 3Eli, who said the exercise began around 5:30am
yesterday revealed that a cache of arms had been uncovered from many hideouts
of Boko Haram members.
"Soon after the commencement of the operations, some
terrorists confronted our men but we succeeded in subduing them. No life was
lost on both sides and the good news is that we have arrested 25 suspects.
"We have also seized large quantity of weapons,
including RPGs and multi-purpose machine guns.
"The exercise will continue. We have restricted
movement of people and vehicles.
"JTF will advise the state government on the right time
to relax the curfew," Eli said.
Our correspondent reports that the closure of all the entry
points to Damaturu caused gridlock as motorists going to different parts of the
country from Borno and neighbouring countries of Chad, Cameroon and Niger were
stranded.
Residents in Damaturu have remained indoors.
Meanwhile, the attacks on telecommunication masts by the
insurgents have grounded communication and aggravated the woes of the masses.
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