Boko Haram: 145 Killed In Borno Villages

Boko Haram has killed about 145 villagers in separate attacks launched on remote communities in Monguno local government area of Borno State between the nights of Tuesday and Wednesday, witnesses and security sources said.

The terrorists, who had been terrorizing neighbourhoods of Borno State using suicide bombers, staged two separate attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 145 persons and injuring nearly 40 others.

On Tuesday, a gang of militants invaded the twin towns of Musaram-I and Musaram-II in Monguno LGA at the time locals were taking a break off the day's Ramadan activities. Mussaram is about 8km away from Monguno town.

"A total of 48 males died on the spot, while 17 others escaped with serious injuries," said Maidugu Bida, who commands the local vigilante group in Monguno town, told journalists in Maiduguri yesterday.

Barrister Tahir Monguno, who represents Monguno, Nganzai, Marte Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, confirmed the incident in a BBC Hausa broadcast yesterday.

"I received the sad news yesterday that Boko Haram terrorists had attacked some communities near Monguno," said Hon Monguno. "Since their dislodgement from the Sambisa forest, many Boko Haram terrorists had relocated to areas around Monguno where they have been picking on hapless villages and killing residents there."

"On Tuesday, the terrorists attacked the twin villages of Mussaram I and Mussaram II in the night. They went there in the night when the villagers were resting after the day's fasting and assembled them before opening fire on them."

Just as the people of Monguno were busy mourning their loss, the terrorists again moved on to Kukawa town, 179km away from Maiduguri, where they carried out another bestial slaughter on Wednesday night.

A top state government official who does not want to be named in this report said the gunmen arrived in Kukawa at the time the Muslim residents of the village were breaking their fast.

"They attacked different mosques where most of the residents were gathered to observe the late evening prayers before going home to properly break their fast," said the source. "They shot at them while they were in the middle of the prayers and later set the mosques ablaze. Some of the Boko Haram gunmen also attacked houses where children and women were killed."

An official of the vigilante group, Abbas Gava, confirmed the attack on Kukawa, saying about 10 persons who survived the attack had been taken to the hospital in Baga town.

The police and army in Borno State have not issued any statement on these developments. A text sent to the state commissioner of police seeking to confirm the incident was not replied at the time this report was being compiled.