A public transport motorcylist carrying four passengers driving past a mosque in central Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, Nigeria. (file photo)
Thousands of Nigerians from villages in the northeast of the West African country have fled the fighting between the military and Boko Haram militants.
Refugees said on Saturday the militants have regrouped following a month long military crackdown and they have sent letters to government officials in the area warning them to quit their jobs or face death.
Thousands of villagers have fled to the Borno state capital of Maiduguri while many others crossed into neighboring Cameroon.
“They warned government officials and civil servants in Bama to resign or else face death in the next seven days. We are all scared, this could be more deadly, so we ran for our dear lives,” said Abba Fannami who fled to Maidguri with six family members.
According to a police official, Boko Haram fighters were searching homes in Gwoza district, forcing people to hide in caves in the rocky hills.
Since mid-May, the Nigerian military has launched numerous airstrikes on Boko Haram training camps in the northeast of the country, forcing the fighters to leave the camps.
Jets and helicopter gunships have been used to attack several camps across three northeastern states, where Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan imposed a state of emergency last month.
But the refugees now say that the fighters have regrouped in the mountains and rocky hills of Gwoza and Bama districts.
On May 14, the Nigerian president imposed a state of emergency in the states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, saying Boko Haram had captured territory and declared war on the government.
“I hereby declare a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states,” Jonathan said.
“What we are facing is not just militancy or criminality, but a rebellion and insurgency by terrorist groups, which pose a very serious threat to national unity and territorial integrity,” he added.
“It would appear that there is a systematic effort by insurgents and terrorists to destabilize the Nigerian state and test our collective resolve.”
According to Nigerian law, the president is allowed to remove officials from their posts and establish a caretaker government.
Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly gun and bomb attacks in various parts of Nigeria since 2009.
Over the past four years, violence in the north of Africaâ„¢s most populous country has claimed the lives of 3,600 people, including killings by the security forces.
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This article originally appeared on: Press TV