Thirty persons were feared killed in a fierce gun battle between soldiers and members of the violent Boko Haram sect at the popular Baga market in Maiduguri, Borno State on Monday. Trouble began at noon on Monday when members of the Boko Haram sect besieged the scene hauling explosives into the fish market in what they said was a reprisal attack against the traders over the arrest of a prominent sect member last Thursday. The attackers had accused the traders of giving out clue to security operatives which lead to the arrest of one of their colleagues. Following sporadic shootings and deafening sound of explosives in the neighbourhood, members of the Joint Task Force, JTF, a special security outfit deployed to quell the Boko Haram insurgence arrived the scene leading to a major confrontation between the soldiers and the sect members. At the end of the encounter, some members of the sect as well as some traders were reportedly killed. Eyewitness account said the number of casualties could be up to thirty noting that some traders had been hit by the Boko Haram bullets and blasts before the arrival of the soldiers. However, JTF spokesman, Lt Col Hassan Mohammed said his men killed eight members of the sect in the encounter, while the sect members had killed three traders before the arrival of the security operatives. The soldiers, he said, responded to an invitation by the traders following the siege by members of Boko Haram sect which eventually led to the gun battle. On arrival, Mohammed said they soldiers successfully detonated three of the bombs earlier planted by the violent sect members. “Our men engaged members of the Boko Haram sect in gun battle and we successfully killed eight of the sect members and recovered weapons as wellas detonated some IEDs and recovered some others.” According to him, the three traders shot at the Market did not die but were taken to the hospital where they are receiving medical attention. Eye witness however said the casualties were no fewer than 30 as some of the victims of the gun battle were said to have died while receiving medical attention.