Musdapha Ilo, Maiduguri

Boko Haram insurgents have killed 145 persons in two separate attacks on Musarram and Kukawa communities in Borno State.

The attacks which occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday also left many people injured.

According to fleeing residents, the insurgents killed 48 men in the attack on Musarram on Tuesday.

Musarram village is located 8km away from Monguno, a town that has also suffered similar attacks in the past.

In the second attack on Wednesday, the insurgents killed 97 persons in Kukawa, a border town with Niger Republic.

A resident, Haruna Ibrahim, said he escaped by the whiskers when the attack took place in Musarram.

According to him, the insurgents numbering about 40 carefully selected the males from the captives before opening fire on them.

A member of the House of Representatives who represents the area, Muhammed Tahir Monguno, confirmed the incident.

“I received the sad news yesterday that Boko Haram terrorists had attacked some communities near Monguno. Since their dislodgment from the Sambisa forest, many Boko Haram terrorists had relocated to areas around Monguno where they have been picking on hapless villages and killing residents there,” he said on phone.

He said the attack on Musarram was particularly alarming as the residents were just resting from the rigors of their fast when the insurgents struck.

A farmer resident in Kukawa, Mohammed said over 50 Boko Haram militants stormed Kukawa at about 6.30pm on Wednesday killing 97 persons in a matter of hours.

“The terrorists first descended on Muslim worshippers in various mosques who were observing the Magrib prayers shortly after breaking their fast,” Mohammed said.

He said after the attack, the militants went round four other communities where they opened fire on worshippers at different mosques.

“They spared nobody and they even took time out to set most of the corpses on fire. They equally proceeded to houses and shot indiscriminately at women who were preparing food,” Mohammed said.

One of the residents of Kukawa, Abba Isa said the terrorists killed his aunt.

“They also killed my uncle and his children. They killed his children, about five of them and set his entire house ablaze,” he lamented.

A member of the vigilante group in the area, Modu Kurawa, said the attacks went on for over four hours without the intervention of government security forces.

There was no immediate comment on the attack from both the military and the police in Maiduguri.