Terrorists Attack Governor Zulum’s Convoy, Kill 11 Security Personnel

Boko Haram terrorists group on Friday attacked the convoy of Governor Babagana Umar Zulum of Borno State during which they killed several security personnel in an ambush, the Agence France Presse (AFP) reported Friday night quoting sources.

Sources told AFP that eight policemen, three soldiers, and four members of a government-backed militia were killed in the attack on vehicles carrying Governor Zulum near the town of Baga on the shores of Lake Chad.

It was gathered that the insurgents opened fire with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades as the convoy was passing through a village close to the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force, a military coalition of troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Governor Zulum however escaped unhurt but 15 security men on the convoy were killed in a fierce battle with the terrorists”, a source said.

Zulum was on an assessment tour of Baga in preparation for the return of thousands of residents displaced from the town by the terrorists in 2014, the sources said.

The governor flew on a helicopter into the garrison town of Monguno, 60 kilometres (40 miles) away, and headed to Baga in a convoy under tight security, one of the sources said.

The AFP said that all three sources spoke on condition of anonymity.

The terrorists group has recently intensified attacks on military and civilian targets in the region.

In July, Governor Zulum’s convoy came under gun attack from ISWAP outside Baga, forcing him to cancel his trip to the town.