Boko Haram kills villagers in two strikes

AT least 42 people have been shot dead by Boko Haram gunmen in Nigeria’s tense Borno state in the northeast.

“We received reports yesterday of attacks by suspected Boko Haram gunmen on two villages in which 42 deaths were recorded,” a police officer said from Biu, 180km south of the state capital, Maiduguri.

About 30 Islamists in bakkies and motorcycles stormed Debiro Hawul and Debiro Biu villages on Monday and Tuesday, a resident said.

The rebels shot dead their victims after looting homes and shops and setting fire to buildings, Debiro Hawul resident Umaru Markus said.

“They opened fire on the village and people scampered into the bush to escape the attack,” he said.

“The gunmen slaughtered 22 people who were not fast enough in fleeing and went about looting homes, grains silos and drug stores.”

The attack followed a similar raid on Monday in Debiro Biu, when 20 people were killed, Markus said.

“It never occurred to us that we would be the next target.”

Both attacks again indicated the threat posed by Boko Haram, which has been pushed out of captured towns and villages by a four-nation military offensive since February.

But deadly raids, shelling, explosions and suicide attacks have continued against civilian targets since Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari came to power on May 29 and vowed to crush the insurgency.

With the latest two attacks – and a suicide bombing by a 12-year-old girl that killed 10 people at a market in the Gujba district of Borno on Tuesday – in all nearly 250 people have been killed in just under a month. – AFP