The move on Gwoza followed the liberation of more than 30 other towns in the northeast in recent weeks. Boko Haram seized the town in August of last year, declaring that they were ruling it by Islamic law. The insurgents are believed to have held some 200 schoolgirls, kidnapped from Chibok almost a year ago, in the town.
Nigerian military spokesman Major-General Chris Olukolade said it was not clear if the abducted schoolgirls were in the seized town.
The capture of Gwoza is a major milestone for the Nigerian army and surely deals a huge blow to Boko Haram.
Gwoza's location made it an ideal base for the insurgents—the nearby Mandara Mountains offered protection and the jihadists could flee into Cameroon with ease. There is a complex system of caves and tunnels nearby, some of which burrow hundreds of meters into the mountainside. Many believe that Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, may have been hiding in those caves.
When Gwoza was captured by the jihadists last August, thousands of residents were left trapped and terrified on the mountain slopes with no food. To make matters worse, the military fled, leaving the militants to help themselves to the local armory.
But on Friday, the military said troops leveled the operational headquarters of Boko Haram and seized several arms and ammunition from them, forcing many insurgents to flee.
Eyewitnesses say that after the military assault, militants could be seen heading over the mountain by torchlight.
Though the recent success of multinational forces over Boko Haram brings huge relief to Nigeria’s troubled northeastern region, some are worried the gains might not be sustained.
Chad’s President Idriss Deby, who has been fiercely critical of Nigeria's response, said the Nigerian military had been uncooperative.
He told French magazine Le Point that Chadian troops have had to retake towns twice from Boko Haram because Nigeria's forces had failed to secure them.
“The Chadian army is fighting alone in its part of the Nigerian interior and that is a problem. We have had to retake certain towns twice,” Deby was quoted as saying.
“We are forced to abandon them and Boko Haram returns, and we have to go back. That has a human and material cost.”
Daily Beast
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