by Panshak Ibrahim

On Friday, February 27, residents of of several villages in the Kala-Balge district revealed to AFP that Boko Haram insurgents murdered many of their kinsmen and razed several buildings on Wednesday, February 25.

The Boko Haram attack is believed to be a retaliation over the Chadian offensive against its hideouts.

According to reports, the target of the attack were members of the Shuwa tribe, who share the same ethnicity as the Chadian soldiers.

Scores of heavily armed insurgents rampaged through more than a dozen villages, where they shot, hacked residents to death and razed homes.

Some of the residents, who fled across the border into Cameroon, told AFP of the attack: “They targeted mainly Shuwa tribesmen, who are from the same ethnic group as a large number of the Chadian troops,” said Adum Walfannea, himself a Shuwa Arab, from Anguduram village.”

Kurso Khala, who fled from one of the worst-hit villages, Mudu, disclosed that the militants attacked a local market and blocked all entry points except one.

He said: “They would ask if a person is Kanuri or Shuwa before asking him to go. Once a person was identified as Shuwa‎ he would be shot in the back as soon as he stepped out of the market entrance to leave.”

Kolapo Olapoju