The fighters of the dreaded Boko
Haram sect laid a siege to some Borno communities between Tuesday and
Wednesday night and killed 145 persons and injured several others.
Some of the deceased were killed in some mosques where the villagers had gone to pray after breaking Wednesday’s fast.
The attacks occurred in some villages in Monguno and Kukawa local government areas of the state.
The Tuesday attack was on Musarram
village, located 8km away from Monguno town, in northern part of the
troubled state, where 48 males where picked out by the insurgents and
killed, according to a resident of the village and some fleeing
residents.
In
the second attack on Wednesday, the insurgents attacked Kukawa, a
border town with Niger Republic and killed 97 persons, according to a
fleeing resident, Abba Modu, who spoke to our correspondent in
Maiduguri.
Another fleeing resident, Idi Isa, said
over 48 persons were killed and 17 others injured when the insurgents
attacked Musara, a village that is few kilometres to Monguno on Tuesday.
Isa, who claimed he escaped death by a
whisker, said the well-armed terrorists numbering about 40 rounded up
the villagers, sorted out the males and opened fire on them.
Isa said, “A total of 48 males died on the spot while 17 others escaped with serious injuries.”
Isa, who spoke on Thursday in Maiduguri,
said the image of the killing was disturbing and he still felt he was
still being hunted by the insurgents.
A member of the House of Representatives
representing the area, Muhammed Tahir Monguno, who spoke to journalists
on the telephone in Maiduguri, confirmed the sad incident.
He said, “I received the sad news yesterday (Wednesday) that Boko Haram terrorists had attacked some communities near Monguno.
“Since their dislodgment from the
Sambisa Forest, many Boko Haram terrorists had relocated to areas around
Monguno where they have been picking on hapless villagers and killing
residents there.
“On Tuesday, the terrorists attacked the
twin villages of Mussaram I and Mussaram II in the night. They went
there when the villagers were resting after the day’s fasting and
assembled them before opening fire on them.”
In the second attack on the historic
Kukawa town on Wednesday, Modu said suspected Boko Haram terrorists
killed about 97 persons.
Modu, a farmer who fled to Maiduguri, said over 50 suspected members of Boko Haram stormed Kukawa at about 6.30pm.
He said, “The terrorists first descended on Muslim worshippers in various mosques who were observing the Magrib prayers shortly after breaking their fast.”
He said after the attack on the
worshippers, they rounded up about four different communities where they
went to their mosques and opened fire on the worshippers who were
mostly men and young children.
Modu said, “They spared nobody and they even took time out to set most of the corpses on fire.
“They equally proceeded to houses and shot indiscriminately at women who were preparing food.”
One of the bereaved residents of the town, Yusuf Aisami, said the terrorists killed his aunt.
He said, “They killed my uncle and his
children. They killed his children, about five of them and set his
entire house ablaze. I can tell you that the attackers killed at least
97 persons in the attack.”
A member of the vigilante group in the area, Modu Kurawa, said the attack was on for over four hours.
Kurawa said, “There was no single
soldier in Kukawa when the terrorists came around 6.30pm. The soldiers
were in Kuros-Kawwa which is just 11 kilometres away. The terrorists
stole assorted foodstuff from houses and homes and then set everything
ablaze. They left around 11 pm.”
There was no immediate comment on the attack from both the military and the police in Maiduguri.
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