Boko Haram continues Killing spree

 

Last Tuesday it was Yobe State where 59 schoolchildren were massacred. On Wednesday,  the bloodletting extended to Adamawa State where Boko Haram terrorists, armed with rocket-propelled grenades  nearly sacked  four  communities.

An official  death toll in the attacks  was  not available as of 9.40pm on Thursday. But  the  British Broadcasting Corporation Hausa Service put it at 37 while the Agence France Presse  reported 33.

 Banks, shops, part of a local government secretariat  and houses were  reported to have  been  looted and burnt during the six-hour  simultenous  raids  on  the three communities –  Michika,         Gulak , Shuwa  and Krichinga – by  the militants.

It was gathered that  in Shuwa, Madagali Local Government Area,  a repeat  of the Yobe massacre was averted  when the  insurgents attacked the  Christians Teacher College,  Christian Secondary School    and a Catholic Convent.

A resident said the head of the Christian Secondary School, on hearing gunshots in the community,  advised his  pupils to run into  nearby bushes to avoid being killed by the terrorists.

The resident, who declined to give his name, added that when the  hoodlums eventually  arrived and saw the school deserted,   they  burnt down almost all the structures on  the premises.

It was also  gathered that among the over 20 persons killed in Shuwa, was a priest at St. Augustine Catholic Church.

The home of a former commissioner in the state,  Idris Nuhu, was among those burnt in the community.

A  resident, who identified himself simply  as Fide, told the News Agency of Nigeria, that   the attackers,   who arrived in  nine vans firing guns and throwing explosives, killed a banker and a villager.

Fide said, “They burnt three banks, a police station, shops and part of the Michika LGA  secretariat.

“One of the dead body is that of a  member of  staff   of the Bank of Agriculture.”

Some other  residents of Michika said they slept in the hills and nearby bushes  during  the mayhem that lasted for about five hours.

The Defence spokesman said that  terrorists fleeing towards Nigeria’s borders with Cameroun  had severely  attacked  some communities in desperation for food and money.

He said, “The purpose of this briefing is to intimate you with the elevation of counter terrorism campaign in the country. The new approach marks another phase in the operations designed to further contain the terrorists and their activities.

“The specialised campaign which has commenced is being undertaken simultaneously in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states. This operation is also in furtherance of efforts at apprehending the terrorists and ensuring they do not escape out of Nigeria as they are now desperate to do.

“Unfortunately, however, they have in the course of their flight towards various borders, continued to perpetrate mayhem as noticed in some parts of Adamawa State yesterday (Wednesday), where they attacked communities.

“In desperation for money and food, they looted and burnt banks, shops and filling stations along their way through Michika as they headed for  the Camerounian border.”

Olukolade said that three civilians and a soldier were killed in the attacks on the Adamawa communities  while six insurgents were gunned down and two captured alive.