A police station in Mainok, Borno State was allegedly set ablaze by suspected Boko Haram who invaded the village on Sunday.

The insurgents were said to have invaded a military base in the village with six gun trucks around 1 pm and engaged the troops on the ground. They were, however, repelled by reinforcement from troops of the Nigerian military.

The village head, Lawan Tuja Mainok, said the terrorists moved were shooting sporadically for about an hour, forcing residents to flee into their houses while others fled to surrounding bushes.

“The terrorists came around 1pm with about six gun trucks before our eyes and moved into the military base. The troops on ground battled with the terrorists and the sounds of gunshots sent us into our house, while others fled to the surrounding bushes for safety,” Leadership Newspaper quoted the village head as saying.

“After about an hour of shooting and with the arrival of air force fighter Jet, the situation was brought to calm, but the terrorists burnt Mainok Police station before fleeing the scene of the attack. Government must do something to end this crisis.”

Mainok is a town along Maiduguri- Damaturu highway, about 60 kilometres to Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno State.