Soldiers Flee as Boko Haram Takes Over Nigerian Military Base

The militant Boko Haram sect has seized a town and key multinational military base in north-eastern Nigeria, the BBC reports.

Maina Maaji Lawan, senator for Borno North, said troops had abandoned the base in the town of Baga after it was attacked on Saturday. 

Civilians had run "helter skelter" - "some into the forest, some into the desert," he said.

Residents of Baga, who fled by boat to neighbouring Chad, said many people had been killed and the town set ablaze.

Baga, scene of a Nigerian army massacre in 2013, was the last town in the Borno North area under government control.