Again, Boko Haram Sacks Chibok Village, Kills 5 Farmers In Maiduguri Outskirt

Suspected Boko Haram members Sunday killed five farmers around Molai general area of Maiduguri metropolis.

This is even as the insurgents invaded Yimirmugza, near Kautikari community of Chibok local government area of Borno State, razed houses and looted foodstuff while the residents fled for safety during the weekend.

Similarly, the insurgents and troops of Operation Lafiya Dole clashed on Friday, leaving three soldiers and dozens of the terrorists dead, while scores of sustained gun shot injuries.

The Chibok attack came five years after Boko Haram also 196 students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, were kidnapped after Boko Haram insurgents attacked the school in 2014.

Sources said the insurgents stormed the community on Saturday, causing residents to flee their houses which the insurgents set ablaze.

An elder in Chibok, Mallam Abga Pogu, said: “Reports coming from Yimirmugza, Kautikari in Chibok LGA indicates that houses were burnt, stores broken, provisions looted, cars burnt and people injured.”

At the time of going to press, there was no official confirmation on the attack from the Police or military authorities, as all efforts to contract them proved abortive.

In a similar development, no fewer than five farmers were killed Sunday by Boko Haram insurgents in their farms around Molai general area of Maiduguri metropolis.

Molai is south of the metropolis and about 10km drive into Borno State capital, Maiduguri.

The killing of the four farmers on their farmlands is coming less than a month after Governor Babagana Umara Zulum launched a special task force, called Ranchers, which membership is made up of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Civilian Joint Task Force, CJTF, and vigilantes/hunters to protect farmers against insurgents.

An operative of CJTF who participated in evacuating the remains of the deceased, Mallam Aji Ali, said three victims from Molai were shot dead by the attackers, while two victims who resides along Damboa/Klorori community of the metropolis were massacred with machete.

He told Vanguard that the victims bled to death before help could come their way.

The military and police could not be reached yesterday for their reactions as calls pulled through the mobile phones of their spokesmen rang out without response.

Meanwhile, three soldiers and dozens of Boko Haram sect members were on Friday confirmed dead, while eight of the soldiers and scores of the insurgents were injured, following a clash that too place between them along Monguno-Mairari-Gajiram axis of Borno State.

Gajiram is the council headquarters of Nganzai Local Government Area which is north and about 70km drive from Maiduguri, the state capital.

The clash came barely 24 hours after the new Defence Minister, Bashir Magashi, and Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, were in the state to review the security challenges facing the North East.

The killing of the three military personnel and the injuring of eight others was confirmed by the Acting Director Army Public Relations, Colonel Sagir Musa, in a statement Sunday.

The statement read: “Troops of Sector 3, Operation LAFIYA DOLE attached to Super Camp Monguno on Friday, August 30, 2019, while on patrol, dealt a devastating blow on Boko Haram terrorists along Monguno-Mairari-Gajiram axis.

“The patrol team came in contact with the terrorists and engaged them with heavy volume of fire that neutralized countless number, while a few escaped with gun shot wounds going by blood trails in the general area.

“The gallant troops also recovered some weapons and equipment from the terrorists. Sadly, during the encounter, three of our gallant soldiers paid the supreme price, while eight other soldiers sustained injuries.

“The bodies of the fallen heroes and those that sustained injuries have since been evacuated.

The wounded are being treated and are in stable condition. The highly motivated troops have continued combing the general area, with a view to clearing remnants of hiding terrorists.

“The Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General TY Buratai, along with some principal staff officers from the Army Headquarters, Theatre Commander Operation, Lafiya Dole, and other commanders, have visited the troops and those wounded in action.”