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| Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. |
NO fewer than 480 Nigerian soldiers have fled into Cameroon following fierce fighting with Boko Haram insurgents.
The Cameroonian Army Spokesman, Lt Col Didier Badjek, who confirmed this, said the troops had already been disarmed.
But the Director of Defence Information, Maj. - Gen Chris Olukolade, said the soldiers merely strayed into Cameroon and therefore were not “deserters.”
Badjek told the British Broadcasting
Corporation on Monday that the disarmed Nigerian soldiers were being accommodated in schools in Maroua, about 80 kilometres from the Nigerian border.
The BBC which added that there were clashes in the border town of Gamboru Ngala, said that thousands of civilians also fled to Cameroon.
Punch correspondent in Maiduguri gathered that Boko Haram insurgents had at about 5.15am on Monday invaded Gamboru, forcing both civilians and soldiers to flee to Cameroon.
One of the residents who called from
Cameroon, said the insurgents went straight to attack the military base and police station in the town.
He said an initial attack was repelled by the military which killed many of the insurgents. The resident added that about two hours later, the insurgents regrouped and launched a fresh attack on the troops.
He said. “They engaged the military and caused them to retreat into Cameroon. It was most likely that the Nigerian soldiers ran out ammunition.
“But some soldiers later emerged with their Cameroonian counterparts and continued the battle with the insurgents.
“As I am speaking to you now (4pm on Monday), we are still hearing sound of gunshot miles away, meaning they are still engaging themselves.”
Meanwhile, An elderly woman who did not want her name in print, told journalists on the telephone from her temporary abode in Cameroon, that she fled “ when the shooting became intense in parts of the town.’’
She said that she saw many corpses while fleeing to Cameroon.
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