By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS

Nigeria's Boko Haram has occupied Askira Uba, a town in northeastern Borno state, burning down homes and unleashing terror on residents, security and vigilante sources have confirmed.

"They attacked Askira Uba first on Sunday when they burnt down the emir's palace," Jubrin Gunda, a spokesman for the local Civilian Joint Task Force vigilante group, told The Anadolu Agency on Tuesday morning.

"They returned yesterday and started burning all the houses and terrorizing the populace; they are still there now," he said.

An army official confirmed the capture of Askira Uba.

"We heard some of them had moved to Askira Uba, burning down the houses there," he told AA, asking not to be named.

"They are roaming in the area, but we will soon get at them there," said the official. "We are clearing Sambisa, which is a very vast area. Askira is part of the forest."

Sambisa Forest, a huge area that stretches across several northern states, is a Boko Haram stronghold.

Gunda, the vigilante group spokesman, suggested that Boko Haram's seizure of Askira Uba was a "desperate measure, because everyone is after them now. There is nowhere for them to go anymore."

"Askira Uba is part of the Sambisa Forest. The militants are trying to run away. The attack on the town is just a desperate attempt to hide somewhere," he said.

"I can tell you they're under fire," Gunda asserted.

He said a joint army-vigilante force would soon flush the militants out of Askira Uba.

Since 2009, Nigeria has battled a fierce Boko Haram insurgency that has ravaged the country's volatile northeast and left thousands dead.

A seemingly emboldened Boko Haram recently stepped up its militant activity, seizing several areas of Nigeria's Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, where it has declared a self-styled "Islamic caliphate."