Soldiers kill 500 Boko Haram in Maiduguri, 15 Civilian Injured, Bomb Explosion kills 8 in Potiskum

The Nigerian Army today repelled attack by the dreaded Islamic Jihadist group the Boko Haram, on the capital city of Maduguri, killing over 500 of the insurgents.
But the Boko Haram killed 15 civilians in the attack with another 36 civilians suffering injuries, according to official figures from the military.
Meanwhile, a suicide bomber is reported to have denoted a bomb in Potiskum in front of the home of a prominent and wealthy politician – Alhaji Sabo Garbu, PDP candidate for the House of Representatives killing 8 people.
Witness Nura Umar, who gave the same death toll, said the bomber emerged from a bus that pulled up in front of the home Sabo Garbu, who is running for a seat in the lower house on the ruling Peoples Democracy Party ticket.
Garbu was holding a campaign meeting ahead of February 14 polls in his home at the time but none of the participants were injured, the policeman and three witnesses said.
Boko Haram Islamists have carried out waves of similar bombings across the northeast during a six-year uprising, and have killed politicians in targeted attacks.
But it was not immediately clear why the insurgents would want to target Garbu and it was possible that the attack was carried out by another group with a separate political motive.
Resident Babagana Lawan said a grenade fell on his house, killing his brother and two factory workers living with him. A hospital source said eight bodies had been brought in from the fighting.
Boko Haram has become the main security threat to the stability of Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer, and increasingly threatens its neighbours. The group has killed thousands of people, many of them civilians, and kidnapped hundreds while the government has struggled to forge an effective response.
Last month, its fighters took control of Baga, on the shores of Lake Chad, the headquarters of multinational force comprising troops from Niger, Cameroon and Chad.
Chadian forces have killed 120 Boko Haram militants in a battle in the north of neighbouring Cameroon that began when the insurgents attacked its troops, the army said in a statement on Saturday. Three of its soldiers were killed.