TERRORISM: Boko Haram renames captured Gwoza as “Darul Hikma”

Boko Haram has renamed Gwoza town in Borno State
which it captured, as part of a campaign to establish a
caliphate in the North-eastern region, residents who
have fled in recent days told AFP on Thursday.
The Islamists seized the town of Mubi in Adamawa
State last week and now insist it be called Madinatul
Islam, or “City of Islam” in Arabic.
Gwoza in neighbouring Borno State which was captured
in July is now being called Darul Hikma or “House of
Wisdom,” multiple residents said.
Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, in a video
released in August declared that he had made Gwoza
part of a caliphate — an announcement that recalled a
similar move by the Islamic State militant group which
has taken over parts of Iraq and Syria.
The extremists are believed to control more than two
dozen towns and villages in the North-east and there
are signs that they are trying to advance south towards
Adamawa’s capital Yola.
“They have given new names to Gwoza and Mubi,
which they say are now part of their Islamic State,”
said Ahmad Maishanu, who fled Mubi with his mother
on Wednesday to Yola.
Tijjani Kalifa, who left Mubi on Monday and has
contacts in Gwoza, also reported that Boko Haram was
forcing people in both towns to use the new names.
Both witnesses told the AFP that all the churches in
Mubi had been burnt down and that Islamists were
patrolling the streets regularly, with no sign of
resistance from the security services.