Boko Haram kills imam, 20 others in Borno villages

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents invaded Kurmiri village of Titiwa Ward, Magumeri Local Government Area of Borno State Sunday night, killing the Chief Imam of the village Ustaz Goni Bukar Tabare and four other people.

The attackers, according to witnesses, stormed the village armed with Ak47 rifles, knives and machetes, but decided to execute their mission using knives, because the sound of gunshots might alert many residents to repel the attacks.

Confirming the attack, the Caretaker Chairman of Magumeri Local Government Area, Alhaji Abubakar Abdulkadir told newsmen, “We in Magumeri woke up this morning (yesterday) and received a distress call that one of our communities witnessed Boko Haram attacks. Five people were slaughtered, including the chief imam of Kurmiri village.”

He commended the effort of Civilian JTF members and security agents who he said acted promptly to apprehend one of the attackers.

The Borno State Police PRO, Victor Isuku, said the State Police Command had not received any situation report on the attack, assuring, however, that he would make enquiries to facilitate immediate investigations by the police.

In another development, suspected Boko Haram members launched coordinated multiple suicide bomb attacks in some villages of Konduga Local Government Area (LGA) of the state yesterday, causing the death of 16 people.

Shortly after the attacks, witnesses said, 16 corpses and 46 injured people were evacuated by the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

The Police spokesman in the state, DSP Victor Isuku, in a statement he issued in Maiduguri, said that about 10:50pm, one female and two male suicide bombers carried out coordinated suicide bomb attacks at different locations in Mashemari village in konduga LGA.

“The first explosion occurred when there were sounds of sporadic shooting in a farm. In the ensuing stampede, the first bomber detonated while the other two bombers detonated within the village and close to the house of the village Head (Bulama).

“Thirteen persons including the three suicide bombers died in the three explosions, while 46 people sustained injuries and were evacuated to General Hospital, Konduga,” DSP Isuku said, adding, that the Police EOD and SARS teams were mobilized to the scene, and normalcy restored.

Narrating his account, the village head of Mashemari, Bulama Maikinta, said the female bomber killed eight people and two male bombers killed five.

A witness, Auwul Mohid, said that the insurgents came on motorcycles and a red gulf car to drop the three bombers in the community.