Musdapha Ilo from Maiduguri
Suspected Boko Haram fighters on Sunday attacked a village in Borno State, abducting several young girls and killing four persons before setting it on fire.
Bam, the attacked village, is about seven kilometres from Buratai, hometown of Chief of Army Staff, Yusuf Tukur Buratai, a Lieutenant General,
According to residents, the attackers came around 3:00am and had a free reign of violence and terror until 5:00am.
One of the villagers who escaped and whose identity cannot be revealed for security reason said Sunday’s attack was not the first time Boko Haram members would invade the village, adding that despite information given to security operatives, the situation has not changed.
“We have been telling the soldiers that the Boko Haram are in some villages around here but they only go to Mangari few kilometers away from Buratai and shot in the air and come back. It seems the soldiers are afraid to confront them,” the villager said.
In another development, a soldier was among three persons believed to have been killed by suspected Boko Haram members who attacked and burnt down Gajiganna village in Magumeri local government area of Borno State.
A member of the youth vigilante group, commonly known as Civilian JTF, Abba Isa, said the attack happened on last week Friday around 8:30pm.
“I believe it was a revenge mission, as recently we arrested over 17 Boko Haram insurgents and handed them over to the military. We even planned to pursue them, as the terrorists are in Kemon and other nearby villages but we decided otherwise as there was no military support,” Isa told journalists.
Another resident said that Boko Haram members usually hide in bushes around villages in Borno State from where they launch coordinated attacks and urged the federal government to do something to flush out the insurgents from their hideouts.
He also disclosed that persons suspected to be insurgents come to villages in truck to buy food in large quantities and that when villagers alert the military nothing gets done.