BY NDAHI MARAMA & BALA AJIYA
Boko Haram
terrorists, Tuesday, killed 35 persons comprising 14 soldiers, 11
policemen and 10 civilians in separate attacks in Buni Yadi, Gujba Local
Government Area of Yobe State and Chinene village in Gwoza Local
Government Area of Borno State.
The Divisional Police Officer of
Bunu Yadi Division, Superintendent Hassan Thlama, was among the
policemen killed, while many others sustained gunshot injuries.
In
the attack, the palaces of the Emir and the District Head (names
withheld), a police station and some military posts were completely
destroyed, while in the Chinene attack, two Churches, shops and
residential houses were set ablaze.
Buni Yadi is about 55 kilometers South of
Damaturu, the Yobe State capital that had witnessed several attacks,
particularly the attack on the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi,
which claimed the lives of over 55 students while they were sleeping in
their dormitories.
Chinene village is South-East and a border
community with Cameroon and about 130 kilometres drive from Maiduguri,
the Borno State capital.
Four-hour reign of terror
It
was gathered that a large number of suspected terrorists invaded Buni
Yadi at 5p.m. on Monday. They came in Hilux vehicles with military
camouflage uniforms, improvised explosive devices, IEDs, petrol bombs
and rocket-propelled launchers.
The attack, which lasted till
9p.m., targeted security formations. Many government structures
including the Magistrate Court, and vehicles were destroyed.
A top
security source in Damaturu, who confirmed the incident said: “The
gunmen took all the security operatives in Buni Yadi unawares and
wreaked havoc on mostly policemen and soldiers.
“Apart from 11
policemen and 14 soldiers killed, two persons suspected to be civilians,
who were caught up in the crossfire, also lost their lives.”
A resident of Buni Yadi, Mallam Jubrin Usmanu, told Vanguard
in a telephone interview that the gunmen only came for security
operatives as they did not attack residents, but that civilians who died
might have been hit by stray bullets.
He said the gunmen also
burnt down the palaces of the emir and the District Head of Buni Yadi
“without killing anybody as they first asked the residents in the
palaces to leave before they set the places ablaze,” Usmanu added.
Another
reliable security source said the dead bodies of their colleagues
killed in Buni Yadi were evacuated to General Sani Abacha Specialist
Hospital in Damaturu, before conveying them to the University of
Maiduguri Teaching Hospital Mortuary for identification by their
relatives on yesterday, while the injured ones are currently receiving
treatment at different hospitals in Damaturu and Maiduguri.
The
spokesman of the Military operatives in Damaturu, Lieutenant Eli Lazarus
was contacted on phone several times, but there was no response at
press time.
In a related development eight people were killed when
some suspected terrorists riding in motorcycles and armed with AK47
rifles stormed Chinene village of Chikidr Joghode Kaghum ward of Gwoza
council in Borno State.
Flags up
The
insurgents, according to sources also hoisted their flags in Ashigashiya
Ward and other hilly border villages with Cameroon and were celebrating
what they now claimed as their strongholds.
A resident, Mr.
Joshua Jidda, said the gunmen invaded Chinene at 2a.m., yesterday, and
opened fire on sleeping residents killing eight people, including an old
woman in her 80s.
He gave the names of some of the victims as
Bulama Dajiba, Bulama John, Haruna Kwatha, Haruna Wadda, Births Kurma,
Haruna Waruda and Shaibu Galva.
The Police Public Relations
Officer, DSP Gideon Jubrin, could not be reached as his phone numbers
were switched off. A top police source confirmed the attacks and the
number of casualties.
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