Boko Haram attacks Adamawa, kills three, torches clinics, shops
Boko Haram attacks Adamawa, kills three, torches clinics, shops
Olaleye Aluko, John Charles and Adeniyi Olugbemi
Boko Haram insurgents have attacked
Shuwa and Karchinga villages in the Madagali Local Government Area of
Adamawa State, killing three persons, burning shops and two clinics.
A village head in
Magadali LGA told one of our correspondents on Tuesday that the
insurgents came to the community at about 6pm on Monday.
“But we mistook them for soldiers because they wore military camouflage and came in army vehicles,” he said.
The Nigerian Army on Tuesday confirmed
the attacks on the communities in Madagali Local Government Area,
saying troops of the 143 Battalion engaged the insurgents.
The army said its troops were in pursuit of the fleeing insurgents.
One of our correspondents gathered that
the terrorist attacks lasted for about two hours, with the Boko Haram
fighters looting shops and stealing foodstuffs.
A community head in Karchinga, Mr Lawan
Abubakar, said the terrorists destroyed about 40 shops in his village
and killed two persons in the market square.
He said, “On Monday, I saw three
vehicles of the army and four anti-aircraft guns. We thought the
occupants of the vehicles were personnel of the Nigerian Army on patrol.
They passed through our village and our people, even our hunters, were
relaxed because we mistook them for soldiers.
“It was later we learnt they went to
Shuwa, destroyed shops for about two hours and they came back to
Karchinga, my village where they destroyed about 40 shops. All our food
items and shops were looted and burnt. They killed two persons here
(Karchinga); one at the market square and one on the street.
“The people thought they were soldiers
of the Nigerian Army. The usual way the terrorists come is to shoot
sporadically into the air and then invade the community. But on Monday
evening, they came in without suspicion and they started looting and
burning houses.”
Another witness said, “The Boko Haram
terrorists are believed to be members of the Abubakar Shekau faction of
the sect. They killed one person in Shuwa and two in Karchinga. They
attacked us at about 6.30pm and fired rocket-propelled grenades. They
forced the policemen to flee, stealing vehicles, a police van and
looting shops and houses.”
The Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, and spokesperson for the military’s Operation Lafiya Dole,
Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, confirmed that the terrorists killed three
persons but added that they only burnt a shop, a health care centre and a
market.
He said, “Troops were alerted to an
attack on Shuwa by the Boko Haram terrorists who had infiltrated the
village through Karchinga on a looting mission, to which the troops of
143 Battalion responded. They fiercely engaged the insurgents and
curtailed their incursion.
“The troops recovered one hand grenade
and six rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition. Sadly, before the troops
arrived at the scene of crime, the insurgents had killed three persons,
looted and torched a shop, a health care centre and a local market.
“It is pertinent to further inform
Nigerians that calm has been restored in Shuwa village, while Madagali,
Michika, Gulak and Baza towns remain peaceful and firmly under the
control of the troops.”
Meanwhile, the troops of the Operation Sharan Daji, claimed they neutralised nine bandits, arrested five others and rescued two persons they kidnapped.
This, the troops said, was done in
collaboration with other security agencies and local vigilantes around
Zamfara and Katsina states.
The acting Force Information Officer, Maj. Clement Abiade, in his weekly bulletin on the activities of the Operation Sharan Daji, stated
that the troops conducted clearance operations in Shinkafi, Birnin
Magaji, Sunke Forest in Zamfara State and Safana, Runka, Kunkan Sama in
Katsina State.
In another development, six suspects,
including a tanker driver accused of supplying petroleum products to
bandits at the Gando Forest, were apprehended at Kwana Mayanchi.
Items recovered from the suspects, he
said, included a round of 7.62mm special ammunition, a motorcycle and
large quantity of illicit drugs.
Others recovered items were 45 gallons of fuel, seven drums of fuel, a tanker vehicle and a water pumping machine.
Abiade added that two suspected bandits’
accomplices, Yusuf Mohammed and Abubakar Dabo, were arrested at the
Kwana Maji-Sunke Forest with large quantity of illicit drugs.
He said the suspects had been handed over to the appropriate authorities for investigation and possible prosecution.
Abiade reiterated the Force Commander and the men of Operation Sharan Daji’s determination to flush out bandits from Zamfara State.
In a related development, the troops of the Operation Whirl Stroke in Benue State on Monday engaged suspected armed herdsmen at Tomatar village in Guma Local Government Area of the state.
The Force Commander, OPWS, Maj. Gen.
Adeyemi Yekini, said the bandits tried to invade the community but were
repelled by the troops.
Yekini, in a telephone chat with one of
correspondents, said, “Yes, the bandits tried to invade Tomatar general
area in Guma but the troops engaged them in a gun battle and inflicted
heavy injuries on them.”
Copyright PUNCH.
Comments
Post a Comment