UNDER BUHARI'S WATCH? : Boko Haram kills 148 in Borno attacks ... TheNation

BOKO Haram Insurgents  on Wednesday invaded Kukawa town in Kukawa Local Government and Monguno town in Monguno Council of Borno State, killing 148 people.

   Over 68 persons were injured.

Kukawa is a farming and herding community, located about 179 kilometres north of Maiduguri, the state capital.

A survivor, Aji Bukar, who escaped to Maiduguri, gave a horrific account of how the terrorists surrounded Kukawa and started shooting indiscriminately at the time Muslims were about to break their fast.

He said: “We started hearing gunshots all over the town. The terrorists surrounded the town, shooting. Confusion and panic took over the town as people ran helter-skelter. They were confused.”

According to him, the insurgents had a field day, leaving the streets littered with bodies.

Residents, Bukar said, were yesterday still afraid to come out to bury the dead.

“ The village is deserted. Elders are afraid the attackers may return, which has delayed the burial of the victims,” he said.

A member of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) told our correspondent on the phone that the militias  caught many residents and shot them in two mosques.

He said: “People were just preparing to break their Ramadan fast and had gathered in nearby mosques when the Boko Haram insurgents came in a convoy of Toyota Hilux vehicles and motorcycles painted in ash colour. They rounded up people and shot them.

“They torched several houses. One of our colleagues, who escaped the attack, said they have recovered 97 bodies, some of them burnt beyond recognition, before burying them this afternoon (yesterday).”

Forty-eight people were reportedly killed at Monguno in Monguno Local Government Area of Borno State on Tuesday night, which is located about 145 kilometres from Maiduguri and 25 kilometres from Kukawa town.

About 23 people were said to have sustained injuries. Houses and shops were burnt down by the gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists.

Narrating the Monguno attack, an escapee said the insurgents fled from the Sambisa Forest and regrouped on the shores of Lake Chad to attack unprotected villages near Monguno town.

He said: “The attackers, armed with rifles and explosives, burst into our villages and summoned men to gather for a special message from the Boko Haram leader. Three minutes after, one of the gunmen ordered them to lie down and all of them were shot dead at close range.”

The man said they launched another attack on a nearby village, eight kilometres from Monguno, adding:  “The number of casualties, including the injured ones, is 23. Twenty-five farmers and herdsmen were killed in the other village.  No woman or child was killed.”

The House of Representatives member representing Monguno, Nganzai and Marte Federal Constituency, Mohammed Tahir Monguno, confirmed the attack yesterday. He described it as deadly.

A military source said:  “Many people were killed. I don’t think our men were there at the time of the attack. The casualty figure may be much high.”

A former official of Kukawa Local Government, Alhaji Habib Kakero, wrote on his facebook: “Our town Kukawa has been attacked by Boko Haram. They killed many of our people. May  their souls rest in peace.”

Mohammed Kukawa, who hails from Kukawa but lives in Maiduguri said he lost three of his family members in the attack.

“A family member, who escaped to a nearby village in Niger Republic, called to tell me that my elder brother, who is a farmer, an uncle and other relations were among those killed yesterday,” he said.

A medical personal of the Accident and Emergency Unit (E&AU) of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) said 25 injured persons were brought in along with many bodies from Monguno and deposited at the morgue.

“We received 25 victims of Boko Haram attacks in Monguno village today (Thursday). I was at the hospital when the victims were brought in by some security operatives with over a dozen members of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF),” he said.