Boko Haram closes in! Nigeria loses critical military city to the savage terrorism group

Troops from Nigeria and surrounding states flood in to take down Boko Haram

Boko Haram seized control of Nigerian city, Monguno on January 25, after launching a simultaneous attack on Monguno and the capital of Borno, Maiduguri. Both cities are in the corner of Nigeria, near the borders of Chad and Cameroon.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "Our soldiers initially repelled the terrorists but they mobilized more fighters and came back in full force. They overwhelmed our troops and forced them to retreat," stated an anonymous Nigerian military officer in Maiduguri.

Boko Haram's goal is to advance to neighboring city, Maiduguri; gaining control over Monguno's military brackets was the first step.

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"Monguno, with its huge military barracks, has a strategic importance ‎in that it acts as a buffer to keep Boko Haram from advancing towards Maiduguri. Its fall means Boko Haram is in good position to advance on Maiduguri, which has been its goal for months," according to CNN.

Fear erupted after news of Boko Haram had taken over the small town of 100,000 people and citizens began to flee the area. Trucks full of solders drove into Maiduguri to prepare for the ultimate battle.

As a prelude to the attack on Maiduguri, Boko Haram has began wreaking havoc on the surrounding, smaller towns, according to CNN.

On January 23, Kambari, three-miles from Maiduguri, felt Boko Haram's rath after they killed 15 people and burned homes. On the same day, 192 of Boko Haram's hostages from an earlier attack were released. However, 26 young boys are still being held.

As another possible intro, an attack on Jintilo, a village three-miles from Maiduguri, broke out early Monday morning.

Residents evacuated the city and were ordered to stay indoors.

"Since 5 a.m. all we hear are cracking of guns and booming explosions coming from the direction of Jintilo," said Babakaka Said to CNN.

Along with the hundreds of Nigerian troop reinforcements, military jets and civilian vigilantes joined in to try to run out Boko Haram. "The ‎gunmen have been dealt with and are now on the run, but they are being pursued by soldiers and vigilantes with the aerial support of a military jet," said an anonymous vigilante.

Despite the loss of Monguno and the abrupt attack on Jintilo, Borno Governor Kashim Shettima urges the people of Borno to remain "optimistic and vigilant." He presses on the importance of keeping children close and reporting any "strange person or movement."

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"So long as we have the resources, we will continue to regard the efforts to reclaim peace our No. 1 area of commitments. I want to reassure the good people of Borno State that we will never abdicate from our responsibility as those they entrusted with leadership," Shettima explained.

After cancelling all plans outside Borno, Shettima assures his people that he will "remain behind with our people through thick and thin."

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