Boko Haram kills 35 in Yobe, Borno villages

AT least, 35 persons were killed and scores injured when Boko Haram insurgents attacked Nannawaji village, in the Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State and Debiro, in the Hawul Local Government Area of Borno State on
Tuesday.
In Yobe, a female suicide bomber detonated an Improvised Explosive Devices strapped on her at a market in Nannawaji.

No fewer than 15 persons were killed in the attack while 26 others sustained injuries, Yusuf Ibrahim, a resident of the village, told our correspondent on the phone.

Ibrahim, who said that he accompanied the injured persons to the hospital in Damaturu, the state capital, narrated, “Though I cannot give you the actual figure of the dead, but I counted 15 corpses when we were running away as we were afraid that there could be more suicide bombers around.

“Some of us even felt that the insurgents might have used the suicide bomber as a strategy to destabilise us before launching an attack.”

He added that he and the others were able to assist those that were injured, taking them to Damaturu Specialists Hospital, where he said the injured had been receiving treatment.

He said the suicide bomber attacked the market around 10:30 a.m.

“But one thing I can tell you for sure is that 26 victims have been taken to the Damaturu Specialists Hospital where they are currently receiving treatment,” Ibrahim said.

As of the time of this report, security agents were yet to confirm the attack but the Chief Medical Director of the Damaturu Specialists Hospital, Dr. Garba Fika, who spoke to journalists, said 26 injured victims of the attack had been brought to the hospital for treatment.

The CMD said three out of the 26 had been taken to the theatre and that three or four others might be referred to medical facilities in Nguru and Azare in Bauchi State or the Aminu Kano Hospital in Kano.

Tuesday’s suicide bomb attack was the first major attack in Yobe since the commencement of the Ramadan fast seven days ago.

In the attack on Debiro in Borno State, 20 persons were reportedly killed as the insurgents stormed the village on motorcycles and Sport Utility Vehicles.

A fleeing resident told our correspondent on the telephone from Maiduguri on Tuesday that the insurgents arrived in the village on Monday and shot several people as well as slit the throat of many.

The source said, “It was in the afternoon time when we started hearing gunshots and people were running, there was confusion everywhere; some were shot dead and many had their throats slit.

“Our foodstuffs were equally carted away by the hoodlums. I cannot tell you sincerely the exact number of people killed but I lost count after counting 20 people, male and female, brutally murdered.”

Debiro is a remote village located in the southern part of Borno. It is about 246 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.