Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Rann, Borno’s troubled town where Boko Haram recently killed aid workers, military and police personnel has been struck by fire incident.
Sources said nine people might have died in the fire incident which occurred, at the weekend, at a camp for displaced victims of insurgency but the information did not get to Maiduguri, the state capital, until late Monday night due to poor communication services in the area.
The fire, sources said, started in a temporary shelter in the small community of about 3,000 people and spread to other areas. Dozens of people were injured, a security source said.
Rann, headquarters of Kala-Balge Local Government Area is located on the Nigeria-Cameroon border in the central part of Borno. It is largely inaccessible even as communication with the area is through Cameroonian telecommunication network.
In February 2017, a military fighter jet mistakenly fired at residents of the area leading to the death of about 100 people. The military said the misfiring was as a result of intelligence which showed Boko Haram terrorists were gathering in the area. The town was ceased by Boko Haram in 2014 but liberated by the military in 2015 though in ruins.