According to residents, the raid took place at about 4:45 a.m. (0345 GMT) on Monday when Takfiri Boko Haram militants targeted a mobile police base on the outskirts of Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state.

“I was awoken by huge blasts and the sound of heavy gunfire around the mobile police barracks,” said Umar Sada, who lives in the Gujba Road area of the city.

He added that the gunmen have burnt down the police base and “are now advancing towards two housing estates.”

“All I can hear is explosions and gunfire from my house. I couldn't go out for morning prayers because this started before dawn and I'm afraid to leave in case I get caught up in it,” another local resident, whose name was not mentioned in the reports, noted.

A bomb blast at a public viewing center in Damaturu left 21 football fans dead as they were watching World Cup finals match.

Boko Haram also claimed responsibility for an October 2013 attack in the city, which targeted four police buildings with guns and explosives and there was an hours-long battle with security forces. Thirty soldiers were killed in the clashes.

Yobe, along with two other states, was placed under a state of emergency in May 2013 due to the Takfiri-fueled violence.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting and bombing attacks in various parts of Nigeria, which have left more than 10,000 people dead since the group began its militancy in 2009.