By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS
Boko Haram militants have reportedly captured Maiha, a town in Nigeria's northeastern Adamawa State, town residents have said.
"Militants captured Maiha town effortlessly because there was basically no resistance, either from the people or security agents," Murtadha Fadlullah, a resident who has since fled to provincial capital Yola, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.
Maiha, located only 25km from the commercial town of Mubi, was earlier captured by militants and renamed "Madinatul-Islam," meaning "City of Islam" in Arabic.
"We fled shortly after Mubi was captured," Fadlullah recalled. "There was no reason for us to stay because we knew Maiha was next."
Abdulsalam Manu, a local contractor in Yola, confirmed the reports.
"Although Maiha town was already empty when the militants struck, its fall is very significant because the town is an administrative headquarters of the Maiha local government area of Adamawa," he told AA.
"What this means is that the militants are in comfortable control of many local government areas of the northeast and their ambition will be to capture capital towns," he said.
He added grimly: "We hope this never happens."
In recent months, the Boko Haram militant group has captured numerous towns and villages in the three northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, declaring them part of an "Islamic caliphate."
Hundreds of civilians have been killed and tens of thousands displaced.
Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in Nigeria's local Hausa language, first emerged in the early 2000s preaching against government misrule and corruption.
The group later became violent, however, after the death of its leader in 2009 while in police custody.
In the five years since, the shadowy sect has been blamed for numerous attacks on places of worship and government institutions, along with thousands of deaths.
Along with Nigeria, Turkey and the U.S. have both designated Boko Haram a terrorist organization.
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