Nigeria: For How Long Will Northern Nigeria Continue To Live With Boko Haram? Boko Haram Kills 90 In Borno!

No fewer than 90 people were killed on Saturday night by suspected Boko Haram insurgents who invaded a Borno State village. Last week, scores were killed in Konduga also in Borno State.

In neighbouring Adamawa State, also last week, nine soldiers were reportedly killed in an ambush. The Saturday night attack took place in Izghe village in Gwoza Local Government. Chanting “Allah is great”, suspected Islamic militants gunned down dozens of Christian villagers and slit the throats of others in an area where the military has been bombing extremists out of forest hideouts, survivors said yesterday. Local government chairman Maina Ularamu told The Associated Press (AP) that he has reports of more than 50 people killed in the attack.

Sources in Maiduguri however told reporters yesterday that the hoodlums laid a siege to the hilly village killing at will and inflicting severe injuries on residents. No fewer than 90 were reported to have died. One survivor said the village list of those killed amounted to 63 dead. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. He said the attackers looted the village’s food stores and made off with about 10 vehicles.

Survivors said they were among hundreds of people from Izghe and neighboring villages who fled on foot through the bush in the night from Borno into Adamawa, two of three states under a state of emergency to halt a four-year-old Islamic uprising. The other state under emergency is Yobe State. The area that was attacked is inhabited mainly by Christians. Insurgents of the Boko Haram terrorist network routinely attack civilians after they are attacked by the military.

On Wednesday, the Air Force began daily aerial bombardments near Izghe of extremist hideouts in the Sambisa Forest along the border with Cameroon. Soldiers moved in on foot following the bombing and at least nine troops and several militants were killed in a fierce hours-long battle, according to hospital and military sources.

After that attack, Ularamu urged the military to deploy more troops, saying the soldiers are outnumbered and outgunned by militants armed with anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons as well as armoured cars looted during attacks. Dozens more soldiers were stationed in recent days in Madagali town, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the scene of Saturday’s attack.

Thousands of people have been killed and tens of thousands forced from their homes by the state of emergency and by militants who want to create an Islamic state in Nigeria. The Borno State government said it would construct 250 houses for 800 residents of Bulabulin Ngarnam in Maiduguri who were displaced by the Boko Haram crisis. Governor Kashim Shettima stated this while inspecting the site for the construction of the houses near the Maiduguri Flour Mills.

Shettima said the gesture was aimed at providing shelter for the victims who lost their property to the crisis. He directed the committee handling the project to begins work on the site next week for early completion. “We are building 250 houses for the residents to enable them to have shelter for their families. “We are hoping that the houses will be ready early enough to provide succour to the victims,” the governor said.

Shettima advised the committee to use cement blocks instead of the usual brick blocks for such houses to reduce cost, stressing that “each household should have a two-bedroom house to accommodate the family”. “The house might not necessarily contain a big parlour and other artificial design, but let it be convenient for the family.” Chairman of the committee, Alhaji Ibrahim Ali, praised the governor for approving the construction of the houses and expressed willingness to begin work as soon as possible.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that residents of Bulabulin Ngarnam were rendered homeless last year after a military operation which demolished structures in the area. The area was believed to be the hide-out and operational base of the Boko Haram militants.