HeadlineBoko Haram: Again, 40 Persons Killed In Fresh Borno Attack

Boko Haram: Again, 40 Persons Killed In Fresh Borno Attack

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SAN FRANCISCO, March 04, (THEWILL) – Rampaging Boko Haram gunmen operating in the North-eastern part of the country continued their killing spree on Tuesday, killing no fewer than 40 persons in Jakana, 35 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The attack on Tuesday was the fourth in three days and has raised the death toll in the past three days to 166 .

Saturday’s twin attack on Ajilari- Bintu Sugar and Mainok claimed 91 lives while Sunday attack on Mafa claimed 35 lives, including that of three police officers.

In an attack Monday evening in Jakana, near Mainok along the Maiduguri/Damaturu road, over 80 persons were killed on a highway siege last year, the Boko Haram gunmen killed two police officers and set the only police station along the highway in Jakana on fire.

Narrating their ordeal, residents of the village who fled the area to Maiduguri , disclosed that the gunmen have destroyed everything they have and killed many before the arrival of security operatives.

“When they came into the town , we thought they were soldiers until they began to shout the usual ‘Allahu Akbar’ and spraying bullets on everything; then we realised, we are being surounded by Boko Haram not soldiers. We all took to our heels,” the distraught residents who spoke on condition of anonymity said.

According to one of the residents, “I am one of those lucky enough to find myself among others in Maiduguri after running through the bushes we busted out near the military check point at Computer Village on the outskirts of Maiduguri.”

But another resident, Babakura Maidugu, who also flee the village said news coming from the women who also fled to Maiduguri on Tuesday indicated that almost all the houses in the village were burnt.

“They said there was nobody living in the town except for security officials, who are still combing the area to restore normalcy. I was also told that the Environmental Vanguard have left to evacuate the corpses,” he said.

The attack came as residents of Maiduguri now live in fear of a possible Boko Haram attack .
Residents of Magumeri Local Government have also started moving out of the area after a letter was allegedly written to them by Boko Haram insurgents that they were planning to attack the area.

Borno State Police Commissioner Tanko Lawan could not be reached for confirmation when filing this report. Also, the spokesman of the Command, Gideon Jubrin, was unavailable as his telephone was switched off.

But the Senator representing Borno South, Ahmed Zannah, confirmed the attack, saying he was told by his people that 12 persons were burnt beyond recognition during the attack.

Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said that 55,500 internally displaced persons have been attended to in Borno since the beginning of the year.

The Information Officer, Northeast zonal office of the agency, AbdulKadir Ibrahim, said the list of those displaced by series of attacks of the insurgents on the troubled state since the beginning of year is “hard to give.”

He disclosed that most of those displaced have shunned camps set up by NEMA for fear of being attacked by the gunmen at such facilities, preferring to stay with relatives in big towns.

However, a NEMA source on Tuesday alleged that managing emergency in Borno State has been tough as the state government has not passed the law for the establishment of the State Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

“Unfortunate that for a state which has been witnessing a crisis of this magnitude with emergency situation arising daily has not deemed it fit to put an emergency management agency in place but has a State Emergency Relief Agency with just three staff which have no idea of managing emergency situation,” the source said .

The source said NEMA in the state had been working with Red Cross and other agency without any input from SERA.

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