Bloodbath continues as Boko Haram kills 35

Scenes of Maiduguri twin bombing blasts ... on Sunday.
| credits: Reuters, AFP and naija.com

Thirty-five persons were killed on Sunday during a fierce gunfight between insurgents and soldiers  in  Mafa, a community  45 kilometres to the East of Maiduguri, Borno State.

Security and eyewitnesses said that 32 civilian victims were given mass burial on Monday. The other three victims are believed to be policemen.

The PUNCH  had reported exclusively on Monday that Boko Haram militants attacked the Mafa Local Government Area headquarters before setting many houses in the village ablaze.

It was gathered from one of the military sources that the insurgents armed with AA assault rifles and  Rocket Propelled Grenades, also succeeded in  setting fire to the camp of the soldiers in the community.

The Mafa attack  is   the third within 24 hours in the troubled state. On Saturday night twin bomb blasts  which rocked Maiduguri left 52 people dead while another attack on Mainok village by the insurgents killed 39.

A witness told one of our correspondents that  the Mafa attack casualties could have been higher if many residents who had  foreknowledge of it had not fled two weeks earlier.

He said that some of the  villagers  took refuge in a mosque but were burnt  by the insurgents.

The Senator representing the area, Ahmed Zannah, confirmed this when he   told journalists that most of the residents, especially women and children, had left  the village before the attack.

Zannah  said,   “A bomb exploded   and two policemen were killed while trying to evacuate injured victims. I have  received a detailed report from my constituents in Mafa that  29 people died during the attack.

“I was reliably informed by my people that  the  soldiers in Mafa fled during the attack because they could not stand the superior weapons of the Boko Haram gunmen.”

The senator added that  military authorities had officially informed  the  Borno State Government  that they could not account for seven soldiers deployed in  Mafa.

A resident of Mafa, Modu Yuraim, however  told  journalists that they  had  “  performed   the burial of 32 persons, including a woman.”

He added that three and not two policemen that were among the victims, could not be taken away by the people for burial.

Yuraim said the attackers  entered the community  at about 8pm and began to shoot sporadically and burning even government houses.

He added, “They   set   fire  on the entire village,  sparing nothing. All  the houses, all  the shops and government buildings in this place were razed down. We  are    devastated.”

When one of our correspondents contacted the spokesman for  the 7th Infantry Division of the Nigerian Army, Col. Mohammed Dole, he said   he did not have the casualty figure and would not make any further comment.

He said, “We do not have the exact figure of casualties. Whether I give it or I don’t give, there are people who have their sources there; they can just give their own figure.

 “We decided with the Commissioner of Police not to give any casualty figure. You people are only interested in casualty figure. People can just quote any figure and that is it; they have their sources on the ground.”

When asked if the soldiers’ camp in Mafa was indeed burnt, Dole said, “The incident was shown on the Nigerian Television Authority news now.”

The state Police Commissioner,  Lawan Tanko, confirmed the latest  attack but said he had  no details of casualties.

About  20 people were killed when the military launched an air raid on  Daglun village, also in the troubled Maiduguri  on Friday night.

However, the Defence  Headquarters  denied the allegation, saying   it was “ part of the design by those bent on discrediting the counter-terrorist mission” of the military.

Its  spokesman, Chris Olukolade,  told the Agence France Presse  that the military  had killed a number of Boko Haram fighters in an operation on Sunday evening, including those believed to have killed  pupils in  a Federal Government College   in Yobe State

He added that some insurgents  suspected to have been involved in the  Maiduguri  twin bombings  had    been arrested

The PUNCH  learnt from a   military source  on Monday  that  many  fanatics from West and East African countries   were   part of the   killings in the North-East.

The source claimed  that some of the insurgents   killed in action  had features  that clearly showed that they were not  Nigerians.

He  said that there was the feeling in security circles that the foreign fighters   joined forces with   Boko Haram   because of the role Nigeria played in dislodging Islamic  militants  from Northern Mali.

One of our correspondents learnt that a Cameroonian and a Malian    suspected to be members of  the  Boko Haram sect  were currently in  the custody of the Special Task Force in Plateau State.

The Spokesman  for the STF in Plateau, Capt. Salishu Mustapha,  who confirmed their  arrest,   said  they  were   in their early 30s.

Meanwhile, a  group, Women Arise, will on Thursday lead women  on  a peaceful  walk  to mourn the massacre of 53 schoolchildren in Yobe State and the abduction of female pupils by   Boko Haram terrorists.

The President of  the group, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, said in a statement    that the  walk would take place simultaneously in Abuja,  Lagos, Port Harcourt and Benin.

Okei-Odumakin    said, “Women are having a peaceful walk to mourn all the killings happening in the northern part of our country Nigeria, especially the recent slaughter of our  children  in Yobe state, the indiscriminate killing of people in other parts of the north and the abduction of our young ladies.

“Running   commentaries in the social media  and  praying in our closets  are not enough. We are calling on the government to intervene   before we lose more of our future generations. This matter concerns us all; whether you come from the North, South, East or West, we are all Nigerians.”