Gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram terror group on Monday
attacked various communities around the rocky mountains of Gwoza town of
Borno State killing nine villagers and setting ablaze houses and
churches in the area, residents and a public official said.
The insurgents also hoisted their flags in Ashigashiya ward of
Gwoza Local Government Area and are currently celebrating in the area which they have now declared their headquarters.
Sources
from Gwoza hills said apart from the nine people killed, several others
were left with serious bullet injuries as fleeing residents now take
refuge on tall rocky hills.
A local government official, Nglamuda
Ibrahim, who spoke to journalists in Maiduguri, the Borno State
capital, said his displaced people have since Monday night been calling
for help.
He said residents, from their hideout on the hills, have spotted the gunmen who are preparing to launch another attack on them.
“As
we speak now, I am still receiving distress calls from them, they were
all crying and calling for help; no soldier or police official had gone
there yet.
“The Boko Haram gunmen mounted their flags in Ashigashiya which is now like their headquarters,”he said.
“In
last night’s attack, six churches were burnt, eight persons were killed
and several others seriously injured. We cannot count the number of
houses that were burnt in Chinene village of Chikide-Joghode-Kaghum
ward,”said Mr. Ibrahim.“They also attacked Amuda village where one
person was killed and several others injured”.
Villagers still in danger
The
official expressed worries that the villagers, who are held up in the
rocky mountains, may be in danger because as soon as the gunmen find a
way, they would attack them.
He added that“currently, as I am
talking to you now, the insurgents have mobilised at Izhaghathagwa
mountain, planning on how to finish (kill) our people; that is why they
have been calling for help before the gunmen climb up to them.”
He
listed the names of some of those killed in Chinene village as Bulama
Dajiba, Bulama John, Haruna Wadda, Bitrus Kurma, Haruna Kwatha, Haruna
Waruda, and Shaibu Galva.
“We are calling on the military
authorities in the state to quickly go up there and help us rescue those
poor villagers, their wives and children before the imminent danger of
the gunmen attack caught them up in the mountains,”he said.“We have a
detachment of soldiers that were deployed to Gwoza but none of them
cares to go behind the mountains, even though everyone hears the sound
of the shootings there”.
A top security personnel confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES and other journalists in Maiduguri.
The
source who did not want to be named in this report as he is not
authorised to speak with journalists said“we all have received the
report from Chinene village. It was really another sad episode there”.
He
added that the hoisting of flag in Ashigashiya happened since three
weeks ago, and said he was surprised that security forces have not moved
to the area.
The Boko Haram has killed over 12,000 people in Northern Nigeria since an insurgency that began in 2009.
The
group is also responsible for the kidnap of over 250 teenage female
students of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
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