by S’ola Filani
Scores of people have been killed while many others were injured as suspected Boko Haram insurgents raided two communities near Chibok, Borno. This is the same community where Islamists abducted more than 200 girls in April.
Military fighter jets dropped bombs on the insurgents, halting the attacks after nine hours, said Enoch Mark, a Christian priest in Chibok, some 11 kilometres (six miles) from the attacked villages.
“We have picked up 10 corpses with bullet wounds” in the bush outside the villages of Kwaranglum and Tsaha,” he said.
The gunmen dressed as soldiers stormed the villages early Saturday, razing them and shooting residents as they tried to flee.
According to a police source who spoke to journalists, residents of Koronginim, about 10 kilometres from Chibok woke up Saturday morning to the boom of guns as Boko Haram fighters attacked the area.
“This is horrendous, it is tragic. People just woke and saw armed men around their community. The insurgents came at about 6.30 am and started shooting at the people. Initially, many people didn’t know what was happening, but it dawned on them that Boko Haram was around when they rushed out of their houses to see where the gunshots were coming from,” the police source said.
Many of the villagers had attempted to flee upon realizing that it was a Boko Haram attack. Sadly, many of them were felled by bullets, another source said, adding that the insurgents who wore military camouflage and were well armed drove to the village in two Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV).
The insurgents were said to have burnt down houses, shops and vehicles before proceeding to Ntsiha, few metres away from Koronginim where they shot at villagers and subsequently set their houses ablaze. Some of the wounded victims were admitted at the Chibok General Hospital yesterday afternoon, a hospital source hinted.
