B’Haram kills 27, military keeps mum on Shekau

Suspected members of the Boko Haram sect have continued their onslaught by killing no fewer than 27 persons and burning 300 houses in Bama town, Borno State.
The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Bama Local Government Area of Borno State, Alhaji Baba Shehu, who made this known on Monday, said 12 other persons were also injured in the early morning raid of last Thursday.

Shehu said the attack was carried out by about 70 gunmen who stormed the town late Thursday in a convoy of motorcycles and pickup trucks.

Some members of the sect had ambushed a convoy of vehicles conveying people returning from a wedding ceremony, killing 30 of them, including the groom in Bulakuri village, Borno State.

The LG boss added that the injured persons were receiving treatment at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.

He said, “Gunmen numbering about 70 riding on about 15 motorcycles and Hilux vans attacked the village last Thursday. They shot down 27 persons, injured 12 people set ablaze 300 houses while 40 shops and 10 grinding machines were also destroyed.

“Also, about 1,000 domestic animals were also killed in addition to the stealing of about N4m cash belonging to the villagers. The 12 injured persons are receiving treatment at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, with the council paying their medical bill.”

He said that the attack was the second in the series, saying that few days before the last Sallah, 16 persons were shot while two others were murdered at Goneri village by the same suspected Boko Haram militants.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian military on Monday kept mum over the release of a new video by the leader of the Boko Haram sect, Imam Abubakar Shekau.

The Boko Haram leader reportedly disowned the Dialogue and Amnesty Committee led by the Minister of Special Duties, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki, describing it as a ploy by the government to divide the sect.

Shekau claimed in the new video that he personally led the attack on various security formations at Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, on October 24, 2014.

He was quoted as having said in the video that the Damaturu attack was one of the most successful operations of the sect as several soldiers were allegedly killed in the encounter.

A military source who claimed to have watched the latest video told an online news agency, the Sahara Reporters that the Boko Haram leader said that the sect would overrun the military and impose Islamic rule in the country.

Shekau was said to have displayed a cache of arms, comprising AK 47 guns, ammunitions, RPGs and others.

The Boko Haram leader reportedly boasted that he seized the arms and ammunition from Nigerian troops during the encounter which led to the death of 127 people including civilians.

Our correspondent made repeated efforts to reach the authorities of the Nigerian military for comments without success.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, did not pick the repeated calls placed to his mobile telephone line.

Attahiru also did not respond to a text message to his telephone line seeking to get his reaction to the latest video by Shekau and his claim of victory against the Special Forces in spite of the prevailing belief in security circles that he was dead.

Investigations revealed that the Nigerian military was reluctant to comment on the issue of Shekau because of the controversy surrounding the claim of the military about his purported death.