Boko Haram Headquarters in Gwoza, Nigeria, 'retaken' By ANS Founder, Dan Wooding, who was born in Nigeria (Breaking News) ![Nigerian troops celebrate after taking Boma from Boko Haram]() GWOZA, NIGERIA (ANS – March 27, 2015) – Finally there is some good news from Nigeria, where its army says it has retaken the north-eastern town of Gwoza, believed to be the headquarters of militant Islamist group Boko Haram. The insurgents had now been driven from virtually all the territory they had held, it said. Some militants were now fleeing towards border areas, the military said. "News of Gwoza's recapture comes a day before presidential elections, which were postponed by six weeks because of the offensive against Boko Haram," said the BBC. "Meanwhile, the president of Chad, which is helping Nigeria fight Boko Haram, has strongly criticized Nigeria's military." Thousands of people have been killed since 2009, when the group, which has since pledged allegiance to Islamic State, began its insurgency to create an Islamic state. ![On the run. Nigerian refugees]() An estimated three million people have fled their homes because of the unrest, and many may be unable to vote in the Nigerian elections. "Gwoza's location made an ideal base," continued the BBC. "The nearby Mandara Mountains offered protection and the jihadists could flee into Cameroon until the military there stepped up patrols. There is a complex system of caves and tunnels, some of which burrow hundreds of meters into the mountainside. Recent rumors suggest the Boko Haram leader may have been hiding there. "When Gwoza was captured by the jihadists last August thousands of residents were trapped and terrified on the mountain slopes with no food. They were badly let down - the military fled, leaving the jihadists to help themselves to the armory. "Now on the eve of a pivotal election there is at last some good news for those who survived. The cost was high though." ![Boko Haram leader]() One resident told a BBC reporter on the ground that the jihadists recently assembled all the elderly residents and informed them that, as they were unable to defend themselves from a military attack, they would be hhelped on their way to paradise. They were slaughtered in Gwoza's abattoir. Eyewitnesses say that after the military assault, people could be seen heading over the mountain by torchlight - Boko Haram fighters on the run. BBC Africa security correspondent Tomi Oladipo says Gwoza's capture is a "major milestone" for the Nigerian army. The town is not far from Chibok, where Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls from a boarding school last April. The BBC reporter says that Gwoza was one of the places where the militants were rumored to be hiding the girls, who are yet to be found. Boko Haram had declared a caliphate After his fighters captured Gwoza in August 2014, the Boko Haram leader declared a caliphate in areas under his control. (A caliphate is a form of Islamic government led by a caliph –a person considered a political and religious successor to the prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entire Muslim community. The militants have been pushed back since Nigeria's neighbors, Cameroon, Chad and Niger sent troops to help it earlier this year. "These successful operations have culminated in the dislodgment of terrorists from towns and communities in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states," military spokesman Chris Olukolade said. A lot of arms and ammunition were recovered and "a massive cordon and search has commenced to locate any of the fleeing terrorists or hostages in their custody", he said. Maj-Gen. Olukolade also thanked Nigeria's regional partners for their encouragement during the recent operations. But Chad's President Idriss Deby has been fiercely critical of Nigeria's response, saying 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. He estimated Boko Haram had 20,000 young fighters, some of whom had been trained by Islamic State in Libya, the AFP news agency reports. Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language, was founded in 2002, and initially focused on opposing Western-style education. This terror group has killed thousands, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria. Note from Dan Wooding. This is the best news that has come out of the land of my birth for some time. The tide is finally turning against this terrible group that has caused such havoc in Nigeria, and has savagely killed many Christians, as well as many other Nigerian. Please continue to pray that they will be driven completely from Nigeria, Africa's largest country with a population of approximately 174 million inhabitants, and is inhabited by over 500 ethnic groups, of which the three largest are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Photo captions: 1) Nigerian troops celebrate after taking control of Bama from Boko Haram militants earlier this week (AFP/Getty Images). 2) On the run: Civilians who fled the fighting in Bama and the surrounding areas in recent days gather a makeshift camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Maiduguri (Photo: AFP/Getty Images). 3) Brutal: Boko Haram chief Abubakar Shekau (pictured) declared the northeast Nigerian city to be the capital of a new Islamic caliphate after he seized the town in August (AFP/Getty Images). 4) Nigerian forces on he offensive against Boko Haram. Note: You may republish any of our ANS stories with proper attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net ).
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