believing. We are now convinced our town has been liberated and we hope to come back and rebuild our lives once Boko Haram is finally wiped out,” Moduye said.
“I’m sure we will return soon to start a new life,” Bukar added.
Boko Haram fighters meanwhile prevented hundreds of residents from leaving a dozen villages in the nearby Marte district due west from Gamboru, as Chad conducted sweeping aerial and ground attacks.
The villages affected were Kwalaram, Bukar-Mairam, Abbaganaram, Sidir, Kirta, Jibillaram, Zannari, Kutukungulla, Baranga, Kitikime, Krenuwa and Jillam.
“They will not allow everyone to leave and threaten to kill anyone that attempts to flee,” Maji Zaram, who escaped from Kitikime to Fotokol, said.
Zaram said he pretended he was going into the bush to gather firewood but escaped and threw away his axe.
“They (Boko Haram) said we must stay with them in good and in bad times,” he added.
“They said we can’t leave them after partaking in all the booty they brought to us.”
Chadian troops this week pushed deep inside Nigerian territory for the first time, bombarding Dikwa, 50 kilometres from Gamboru to the southwest, near Boko Haram’s Sambisa Forest stronghold.
Nigeria’s military also said they attacked Sambisa Forest and Gwoza, where the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, first proclaimed the existence of an Islamic state inside Nigeria last year.
Maji Ariye, a Nigerian refugee in Fotokol, said the villagers were “reaping what they sow”, as many had decided to stay voluntarily when Boko Haram moved in.
They said they would rather live under Boko Haram because the militants were bringing in free food and other consumables from raids elsewhere, he claimed.
“Now that the table has turned against their benefactors they want to leave,” he said.
“I warned several people to leave because when soldiers deployed there would be no hiding place for them but they refused to listen.”