Chat212 - Mail Summary...
- 35 persons were killed uring a fierce gunfight between insurgents and soldiers in Mafa, a community in Borno State.
- The insurgents armed with AA assault rifles and Rocket Propelled Grenades, also succeeded in setting fire to the camp of the soldiers in the community.
- A witness said that some of the villagers took refuge in a mosque but were burnt by the insurgents.
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| When asked if the soldiers’ camp in Mafa was indeed burnt, Dole said, “The incident was shown on the Nigerian Television Authority news now.” |
Chat212 - Mail News... Report
Thirty-five persons were killed on Sunday during a fierce gunfight between insurgents and soldiers in Mafa, a community 45 kilometres to the East of Maiduguri, Borno State.
Security and eyewitnesses said that 32 civilian victims were given mass burial on Monday. The other three victims are believed to be policemen.
The PUNCH had reported exclusively on Monday that Boko Haram militants attacked the Mafa Local Government Area headquarters before setting many houses in the village ablaze.
It was gathered from one of the military sources that the insurgents armed with AA assault rifles and Rocket Propelled Grenades, also succeeded in setting fire to the camp of the soldiers in the community.
The Mafa attack is the third within 24 hours in the troubled state. On Saturday night twin bomb blasts which rocked Maiduguri left 52 people dead while another attack on Mainok village by the insurgents killed 39.
A witness told one of our correspondents that the Mafa attack casualties could have been higher if many residents who had foreknowledge of it had not fled two weeks earlier.
He said that some of the villagers took refuge in a mosque but were burnt by the insurgents.
The Senator representing the area, Ahmed Zannah, confirmed this when he told journalists that most of the residents, especially women and children, had left the village before the attack.
Zannah said, “A bomb exploded and two policemen were killed while trying to evacuate injured victims. I have received a detailed report from my constituents in Mafa that 29 people died during the attack.
“I was reliably informed by my people that the soldiers in Mafa fled during the attack because they could not stand the superior weapons of the Boko Haram gunmen.”
The senator added that military authorities had officially informed the Borno State Government that they could not account for seven soldiers deployed in Mafa.
A resident of Mafa, Modu Yuraim, however told journalists that they had “ performed the burial of 32 persons, including a woman.”
He added that three and not two policemen that were among the victims, could not be taken away by the people for burial.
Yuraim said the attackers entered the community at about 8pm and began to shoot sporadically and burning even government houses.
He added, “They set fire on the entire village, sparing nothing. All the houses, all the shops and government buildings in this place were razed down. We are devastated.”
When one of our correspondents contacted the spokesman for the 7th Infantry Division of the Nigerian Army, Col. Mohammed Dole, he said he did not have the casualty figure and would not make any further comment.
He said, “We do not have the exact figure of casualties. Whether I give it or I don’t give, there are people who have their sources there; they can just give their own figure.
“We decided with the Commissioner of Police not to give any casualty figure. You people are only interested in casualty figure. People can just quote any figure and that is it; they have their sources on the ground.”
When asked if the soldiers’ camp in Mafa was indeed burnt, Dole said, “The incident was shown on the Nigerian Television Authority news now.”
The state Police Commissioner, Lawan Tanko, confirmed the latest attack but said he had no details of casualties.
About 20 people were killed when the military launched an air raid on Daglun village, also in the troubled Maiduguri on Friday night.
However, the Defence Headquarters denied the allegation, saying it was “ part of the design by those bent on discrediting the counter-terrorist mission” of the military.
Its spokesman, Chris Olukolade, told the Agence France Presse that the military had killed a number of Boko Haram fighters in an operation on Sunday evening, including those believed to have killed pupils in a Federal Government College in Yobe State
He added that some insurgents suspected to have been involved in the Maiduguri twin bombings had been arrested
The PUNCH learnt from a military source on Monday that many fanatics from West and East African countries were part of the killings in the North-East.
The source claimed that some of the insurgents killed in action had features that clearly showed that they were not Nigerians.
He said that there was the feeling in security circles that the foreign fighters joined forces with Boko Haram because of the role Nigeria played in dislodging Islamic militants from Northern Mali.
One of our correspondents learnt that a Cameroonian and a Malian suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect were currently in the custody of the Special Task Force in Plateau State.
The Spokesman for the STF in Plateau, Capt. Salishu Mustapha, who confirmed their arrest, said they were in their early 30s.
Meanwhile, a group, Women Arise, will on Thursday lead women on a peaceful walk to mourn the massacre of 53 schoolchildren in Yobe State and the abduction of female pupils by Boko Haram terrorists.
The President of the group, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, said in a statement that the walk would take place simultaneously in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Benin.
Okei-Odumakin said, “Women are having a peaceful walk to mourn all the killings happening in the northern part of our country Nigeria, especially the recent slaughter of our children in Yobe state, the indiscriminate killing of people in other parts of the north and the abduction of our young ladies.
“Running commentaries in the social media and praying in our closets are not enough. We are calling on the government to intervene before we lose more of our future generations. This matter concerns us all; whether you come from the North, South, East or West, we are all Nigerians.”
