Boko Haram fighters are reportedly closing in on Gulak, headquarters of Madagali Local Government Area in Adamawa State after seizing Mdagali town.

A security source told Daily Trust that the insurgents have set up camps at Bakin Dutse, some five kilometres away from a reinforced military base in Gulak.

The source said the insurgents are in control of the stretch between Gwoza in Borno State and Madagali in Adamawa State while they advanced towards Gulak.

He also revealed that most of the soldiers who fled to Cameroon are in good health condition and are still in Mubi, denying rumours that they were mobilised again to face the insurgents at Gwoza.

“They move around the area using vans, buses and motorcycles since there is no security presence in the area. Soldiers are being assembled in Gulak just few metres from Bakin Dutse where the insurgents have set up a new camp,” he said.

A soldier who spoke to our correspondent through telephone confirmed the military deployed its soldiers heavily to Gulak to prevent the insurgents from capturing Gulak and other nearby towns including Mubi, Michika and Uba.

The Army Public Relations Officer of 23 Armoured Brigade Yola, Captain Jafaru Nuhu, could not be reached for comments as calls to his phone did not go through.

Chairman of Madagali Local Council, James Waltharda, had confirmed that Madagali town, Gubla and Bakin Dutse settlements have fallen under the control of the insurgents.

But it’s not all gains for Boko Haram as the Cameroonian Army yesterday announced the killing of 27 members of the sect near a northern town.

Boko Haram fighters crossed the border into Cameroon earlier this week, after attacking a military base and police station in Nigeria.

“Cameroon soldiers have killed 27 Boko Haram elements during an attack in a locality near Fotokol in the far-north,” Cameroonian state radio CRTV said, adding that the deaths occurred on Monday and Tuesday. There was no word on any Cameroonian casualties.

A Cameroonian soldier in the region said the militants had been pushed back into Nigeria, with calm returning to the area on yesterday.

In recent weeks, Boko Haram, which is seeking to carve out a de facto Islamic state in northern Nigeria, has stepped up attacks in Cameroon, leading the central African country to increase deployments along its jungle border.

Cameroon has, however, not always been successful in fending off Boko Haram raids. President Paul Biya dismissed two senior army officers last month following attacks in which at least seven people were killed and the wife of the Vice Prime Minister was kidnapped.

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