Boko Haram has renamed Gwoza town in Borno State which it captured, as
part of a campaign to establish a caliphate in the North-eastern region,
residents who have fled in recent days told AFP on Thursday.
The Islamists seized the town of Mubi in Adamawa State last week and
now insist it be called Madinatul Islam, or “City of Islam” in Arabic.
Gwoza in neighbouring Borno State which was captured in July is now
being called Darul Hikma or “House of Wisdom,” multiple residents said.
Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, in a video released in August
declared that he had made Gwoza part of a caliphate — an announcement
that recalled a similar move by the Islamic State militant group which
has taken over parts of Iraq and Syria.
The extremists are
believed to control more than two dozen towns and villages in the
North-east and there are signs that they are trying to advance south
towards Adamawa’s capital Yola.
“They have given new names to
Gwoza and Mubi, which they say are now part of their Islamic State,”
said Ahmad Maishanu, who fled Mubi with his mother on Wednesday to Yola.
Tijjani Kalifa, who left Mubi on Monday and has contacts in
Gwoza, also reported that Boko Haram was forcing people in both towns to
use the new names.
Both witnesses said all the churches in
Mubi had been burnt down and that Islamists were patrolling the streets
regularly, with no sign of resistance from the security services.
Credit: ThisDay
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