Over
60 persons have been killed by Boko Haram fighters in Kukuwa – Gari in Gulani
Local Government Area of Yobe State.
Speaking
to our correspondent on the telephone on Tuesday, the spokesman for the Yobe
State Police Command, Mr. Toyin Gbadegesin, confirmed the attack. But he did
not give the casualty figure.
He
said, “I can confirm that there was an attack at Kukuwa village and the police
and other security operatives were able to repel the Boko Haram attackers. We
are not aware of the high death toll.”
But
a member of the local vigilance group, Abubakar Aliyu, told our correspondent
that over 60 people lost their lives in the attack.
He
said most of the victims were shot dead by the sect fighters, while some
drowned in a river while they were fleeing from their attackers.
He
said, “Most of the villagers were drowned in the river which was flooded by the
downpour while others were shot dead by the terrorists. The terrorists invaded
Kukuwa-Gari village and its environs on motorcycles and trucks and started
shooting at every possible target.
“Some
of us in the local vigilance group and some security officials could not
withstand the Boko Haram terrorists’ firepower as they were over 50 and were
heavily armed.”
Aliyu
said they were forced to go into hiding and when they finally came out they
counted 60 corpses, adding that most the victims were found at the river bank.
Another
resident of the area, Kashim Mohammed, who narrowly escaped being killed in the
attack, said the death toll had risen beyond 60, insisting that many more
corpses were seen at the river bank after the initial count on Friday.
He
said, “I was able to hide in the bush for two days, when I came out, many dead
bodies which is far more than 60 were seen close to the river bank. Most of us
could not communicate with people in Damaturu, the state capital, because telecommunication
masks have been blown off by the insurgents.”
Yobe
State had suffered a series of attacks from insurgents in the past and
President Muhammadu Buhari had given a new charge to the military to end
insurgency in three months.
Source:punchng
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