Boko Haram kidnaps 185, kills 32 from Borno Village in fresh attack

Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members have killed 35 people and kidnapped no fewer than 185, on Thursday during an attack in Borno State town Gumsuri, 20 kilometres to Chibok, where nearly 300 schoolgirls were taken hostage in April.

A teenager Aji Ibrahim who spoke to Associated Press said he was lucky to escape into the bushes.

“No doubt, they were Boko Haram members because they were chanting `Allahu akbar’ (God is great) while shooting at people and torching houses,”

The attack on Gumsuri happened on Sunday night, said a security official and a local government officer, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. The news took days to emerge because the militants have destroyed communications towers in the area.

The people kidnapped by the militants include women and children. The hostages were carted away on trucks towards Sambisa Forest, a notorious rebel stronghold, two local officials and a vigilante leader said.

A vigilante leader based in the Borno State capital, Maiduguri, Usman Kakani, told AFP that fighters who were in Gumsari during the attack provided a figure of 191 abducted, including women, girls and boys.

Mukhtar Buba, a Gumsuri resident who fled to Maiduguri, also confirmed that women and children were taken. “After killing our youths, the insurgents have taken away our wives and daughters,” he said.

Other witnesses recounted the gory incident: A local government official who pleaded anonymity said: “Our youth that engaged the insurgents, in serious fight have been seriously injured because the attackers stormed the village in convoy of vehicles with petrol bombs and dangerous weapons.

“For the past one year, the insurgents have made several attempts to attack Gumsuri but were resisted by the gallant youths of the village who always had the upper hand during confrontation. It is sad that on Sunday, the village was subdued.”

Another official added:  “They  divided themselves into two groups. While  the first group was fighting with the vigilantes, the second group launched simultaneous attacks from behind them . They killed 32 people, including the chief Imam and leader of the youth.”

Abdullahi Kolomi who could not explain how he escaped to Maiduguri said that more than half of the town was set ablaze.

“I am not sure what will be left behind in Gumsuri because more than half of the village was in flames when some of us decided to run. We just took that step thinking that we would die but only God knows how and why we came out alive.

The terrorists ruthlessly attacked us and killed at will. They had guns and bombs; they came with petrol in jerry cans which they used in setting houses ablaze. Many shops and foodstuff have been destroyed.

“I managed to escape and trekked throughout the night. I took refuge in Biu for three days before proceeding to Maiduguri, but I lost everything.”

Another eyewitness, Adamu Muktari, who has escaped to Gombe State said the insurgents came to the village in hundreds and ordered the villagers to assemble in an open place where they separated the women from men, the young girls and boys, before they opened fire on those that refused to join them on their mission.

“On noticing that the insurgents planned to kill the youths and abduct young ladies or girls, others started to run away. Some were killed, some injured and some escaped.

“We saw hell.  We never expect they will turn against us in the village because they used to come and pass through the village and have never asked anybody to run away or hurt anybody until today we just saw them and they asked us to come out from our houses and assemble outside,” Muktari said.

credit: ynaija