Boko Haram Kills 30 in Attacks on Borno Villages
Possible location of Chibok girls identified, says NAF
Boko Haram militants killed at least 30 people during attacks on two villages over two days in Borno State, local vigilante fighters and local officials said at the weekend.
According to the Associated Press (AP), the vicious attacks saw the raiders looting food supplies, carting away herds, and kidnapping women and children.
Gunmen in pickups and on bicycles stormed the remote villages of Yakshari and Kachifa in Damboa district, slaughtering villagers, said Musa Suleiman, a member of a local ad hoc group fighting Boko Haram alongside Nigeria’s military.
“The attackers slaughtered 30 people in Yakshari and Kachifa villages in Damboa Local Government Area in two separate attacks on Friday night and Saturday morning,” Suleiman said.
His account was supported by his comrade, Awana Ari.
The gunmen attacked the farming village of Yakshari around 9.30 am on Saturday, slaughtering 22 residents and taking away food supplies and cattle, said Suleiman, who is from the town of Biu, 120 kilometres away.
“The Boko Haram gunmen killed 22 people in Yakshari by slitting their throats. They then stole all the food supplies and all the cattle in the village,” he said.
The day before, the Islamist militants raided nearby Kachifa village, killing villagers and taking
property, Ari said.
News of the attacks was slow to emerge due to poor communication in the area following destruction of telecommunication towers by Boko Haram militants in previous raids.
Vigilantes in Biu received reports of the attacks late Saturday when their colleagues drove 86 kilometres from Damboa to break the news to them.
Nigerian troops retook the town of Damboa in August 2014 after it was briefly seized by Boko Haram the previous month.
Despite huge troop deployments in Damboa and other towns reclaimed from Boko Haram, the Islamists militants still carry out sporadic attacks on remote villages with no military protection, according to residents and vigilantes.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has said the location of the abducted Chibok girls may have been identified.
Speaking to Channels TV, the Director of Public Relations at the Nigerian Air Force, Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, said the air force has deliberately avoided that location in the ongoing aerial bombardment of Sambisa forest, to keep the girls safe.
He said the recent bombardment had been aimed at the logistics base of the Boko Haram sect and not where the girls are.
“We have no fears that the girls are not there because that particular location has been under surveillance for quite a while and we suspected maybe it’s a kind of ammunition depot or maybe a workshop that they are using as their logistics place.
“Once you take off the logistics base, of course you gradually weaken the resolve of the enemy to be able to prosecute any campaign,” he said.