Soldiers of the Joint Multinational taskforce in one of their nocturnal patrols forced thieving Boko Haram insurgents to abandon a herd of about 150 cattle on Thursday February 9.

Reports say the insurgents had attacked one of the biggest shops in Kolofata-Guidi, in Cameroon’s Far North region. On their way back to their hideout in Nigeria, they stole a herd of cattle. As they led the cattle towards the border between Cameroon and Nigeria, they heard gunshots rattling from a distance and felt that they were being chased. The death-scared terrorists abandoned the cattle and ran helter-skelter across the border into Nigeria.

Modou Oumar Difan, President of the Kolofata local vigilante group told French language tri-weekly, L’Oeil du Sahel that the firing of the gunshots at the time of the robbery was a mere coincidence. He revealed that soldiers of the Joint Multinational Taskforce have adopted a strategy of firing shots in the air during nocturnal patrol. He said it’s a strategy to scare off assailants- it paid off that night.

Kolofata residence, we were gathered, found the entire herd of cattle near the border with Nigeria. The robbed businessman was however unlucky as the attackers succeeded to vamoose with the goods they stole from his shop.

Cameroonian and Nigerian authorities have announced on severally that the efforts of the joint multinational taskforce which consist of soldiers selected from the ranks of the armies of countries in the Lake Chad Basin affected by the activities of the Nigeria-based so-called Jihadist terror group. The countries include Cameroon, Chad, Benin, Nigeria and Niger. Other analyst say the group has been reduced to a gang of petit thieves robbing villagers for food and other basic necessities.