– Militant build-up –
Some 100 kilometres from Damboa in Gwoza, which Boko Haram declared part of a caliphate last year and is considered its headquarters, militants began amassing and killed residents.
One woman who fled on Tuesday to the capital of neighbouring Adamawa state, Yola, said elderly men studying the Koran outside the home of a local cleric were shot dead in front of their wives.
Her account was backed up by local Senator Ali Nduwe, who speculated that the Islamists were preparing to defend the town from a military advance, possibly by Chadian troops in the area.
Reclaiming Gwoza would be a huge prize for Nigeria’s military, as it battles to secure and stabilise the northeast in time for rescheduled presidential and parliamentary elections on March 28.
Observers have cast doubt on the six-week time-frame, given that Nigeria has been unable — some say unwilling — to end the violence in the six years since the start of the insurgency.
There are also lingering questions about whether some of the one million displaced by the conflict will be able to vote, even if the rebellion is finally put down.
Chad’s well-trained army has offered a huge boost to Nigeria in recent weeks, recapturing towns in border areas and pushing into territory near Boko Haram’s Sambisa Forest training camps.
Chadian President Idriss Deby on Wednesday claimed he knew where Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau was and called on him to surrender or be killed.
The Nigerian authorities have declared Shekau dead three times but the military has since reportedly said that they want the militant leader captured alive.
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