B’Haram kills 29 in Borno, kidnaps 10 in Cameroon

Boko Haram members

About 29 persons were killed in an attack on a market in Ngurosoye Village, Bama Local Government Area of Borno State, residents of the area have claimed.

It was gathered on Saturday

that the insurgents came in hundreds on motorcycles and six pick-up vans and shot indiscriminately. They also shot a rocket-propelled grenade at the market, which killed some traders.

A security source, who spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity, said 29 lifeless bodies were counted moments after the attack, which also caused injuries to several other people.

He said, “The attacks by the insurgents on the state, rather than decreasing, is seriously increasing and the killings these days are in greater number. I think it is time the government allowed us to cordon this Sambisa and destroy all these evil people.”

It was the third time insurgents would attack the market since 2009.

Ngurosoye Village is about 56 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital, which is also a gateway to the dreaded Sambisa forests.

The insurgents were said to have carried out repeated attacks on the village since the youths in the area took up arms against them by joining the vigilance group, codenamed Civilian Joint Task Force, in the hunt for Boko Haram members.

A resident of Bama town, who spoke anonymously with journalists, said the people had heard rumours of possible attacks on the area by the insurgents about two weeks ago.

Attempts made to get the Borno State Commissioner of Police, Lawal Tanko, and the spokesman of the 7 Division, Nigerian Army, Col. Muhammad Dole, yielded no results as of the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, suspected Boko Haram rebels on Friday attacked a Chinese work site in northern Cameroon and kidnapped at least 10 workers.

The Governor of Far North Region, Cameroon, Augustine Fonka Awa, confirmed this on Saturday.

The Chinese Embassy in Yaounde also confirmed the attack at a site near Waza, 12 miles from the Nigerian border close to Sambisa forest, a Boko Haram stronghold.

Our correspondent learnt that the attackers also destroyed a bridge linking the various villages in the area, where the Chinese construction workers were working.

International news agency, Reuters, reported that the Friday’s attack in Cameroon began when power was cut in the evening. A five-hour gunfight followed, a guard at the Waza National Park told the agency.

Awa said he believed Boko Haram carried out the attack. He added that authorities were investigating reports that at least one Cameroon soldier was killed and 10 people were abducted.

The Chinese state news agency, Xinhua, quoted Chinese officials as saying one person was injured.

The Chinese embassy had suspended visits to the area.