BEVERLY HILLS, CA, October 06, (THEWILL) – Two persons – Ahmadu Alabeji, a nurse and Abba Sastawa, a prison guard – were killed early Sunday morning in their homes at the Gadamayo ward near the General Hospital in Gwoza, Borno State when gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members attacked the hilly community .
Eyewitness account said the gunmen stormed the area in a Volkswagen Golf car and two motorcycles before subjecting the residents to a reign of terror during which the victims were killed.
The insurgents were said to have shot sporadically to make way for their escape amid shout of Allahu Akbar (God is Great) to show their victory at killing the two persons before fleeing toward Kurana Bassa village that leads to Gwoza Hills.
Some of the Boko Haram insurgents are still believed to be hiding on the Gwoza hills since the declaration of a state of emergency in the state by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Giving a graphic description of the attack, a commercial driver, Isa Haruna, who fled the town to Maiduguri on Sunday said at the Bama Motor Park, “we could not sleep throughout the night of Saturday, as the gunmen continue to shoot sporadically for over four hours after killing a nurse and prison warden in Gadamayo ward.”
According to Haruna, “Some of our children are crying that they are to be shot also. This forced me to relocate and flee this morning to Maiduguri with nine of my family members, including six children.”
Haruna added that because of the incessant attacks and killings in Gwoza town and villages of Pulka, Kwatara, Barawa and of recent Kirawa, a border town with Cameroon, where 20 people were killed on a market day last Saturday, residents of Gwoza are now fleeing to neighbouring towns of Madagali and Michika in Adamawa State.
“We cannot return to our residence in Gwoza council area until the security of our life and properties are guaranteed by soldiers, because even the policemen in our area are not spared by the insurgents, whenever they attack our communities and wards in Gwoza.
“These gunmen have attacked five communities and villages in this council area, with the killing of our ward and district heads, parents, teachers and policemen, despite four months of state of emergency in Borno state,” Haruna said.
Though no official confirmation of the killings was forthcoming on Sunday, a senior police officer who craved anonymity said two residents were killed by armed hoodlums in Gwoza , while three others sustained injuries as they tried to escape from the insurgents.
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