The gunmen numbering about 150 and riding motorcycles besieged the
village at about 4am, and suddenly opened fire on any adult community
member on sight.
The gunmen also killed the village head, Mallam Lawali Madawaki, the
chief Imam Mallam Liman Usman and the leader of the vigilante group.
Eyewitness, Yahaya Bale, said it was a reprisal attack following an
earlier organised mission by the community vigilante group who chased
the castle wrestlers to recover some animals they have stolen from the
community.
He said the wresters had earlier been sending notice to the community
that they will ambush them to encounter and break the persistent
resistant against their nefarious activities, ‘but every time they send
the signal, they would fail to come’ he added.
Yahaya further explained that it was in the early morning of Tuesday
that the attackers besieged the village in large number, shooting only
adult men, but sparing women and children, on the orders of their
learders.
Another survivor, Halilu Kizara, blamed the complete or near-absence of
the police or any security drafted in the village to maintain social
security, except only one policeman who is in charge of the outpost in
the community with over 5,000 people.
Confirming the incident, the Commissioner of Police Zamfara State
Command, Mr. Akila Usman Gwary, who spoke to journalists said however
that the official number of casualties is 32, but gave assurance that
his command has drafted team of policemen to maintain law and order in
the area.
The development came just as residents of Maiduguri, the Borno State
capital, said suspected members of Boko Haram on Monday killed 22
persons in separate attacks. They said the terrorists were on a revenge
mission against youth vigilante groups that have been hunting them.
According to the residents, the gunmen attacked a secondary school,
Ansarudeen Private School, Maiduguri at about 3pm, and opened fire on
students writing their final year exams. Nine students were killed,
while several others were seriously injured in the attack.
The incident occured less than 24 hours after gunmen attacked a school
in neighbouring Yobe State, killing seven students and two teachers.
Borno and Yobe, alongside Adamawa, are under emergency rule with a
massive deployment of soldiers to the states.
In another incident in Borno on Monday, the gunmen attacked a group of
fishermen on the banks of the Alau River, on the outskirts of Maiduguri,
killing 13 of them.
Some of the witness who were spared by the attackers said most of those
killed at the river bank were relatives of the youth vigilante group
currently hunting Boko Haram members.
“I was lucky to be left out because I am not a resident of Gwange or
Hausari where the Civilian-JTF (the youth vigilante) came from,” said a
fisherman, who pleaded anonymity for security reasons.
A resident of Bulumkutu in Maiduguri, Inuwa Umoru, said a prominent fish merchant, Garba Garus, was among the 13 killed.
“We were busy fishing at Alau River when suddenly a gang of gunmen
appeared from nowhere, rounded us up and asked all those who are
residents of Husari and Gwange to fall on one side. After sorting us
out, they said, “Your children brought this fate upon you; they are busy
catching our members and handing them to soldiers to be killed.
“They then shot them dead and asked the remaining of us to run for our
lives and take the message to the youth vigilante,” he narrated.
A top security official in the state, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed
the attacks but declined further comments on the number of casualties.
But the youth vigilante have been commended by President Goodluck
Jonathan and the military for helping in the battle against the
terrorists.
The JTF spokesman in Borno, Sagir Musa, could not be reached on telephone for official reactions to the incidents.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Boko Haram, Abu Zinnira, has said his
group will launch a manhunt for youth in Borno and Yobe states who
partake in vigilante activities to identify and arrest members of the
terrorist group.
Some youth in both states have formed vigilante groups to assist the
military to identify and arrest the terrorists in the towns. Their
activities have been commended by the presidency and the military; but
has now put them in a battle with the terrorists.
Abu Zinnira said his group is also waging a bloody war against the
government of Borno and Yobe states in reaction to the massive arrest of
their members by youth in the states.
The terrorists’ spokesman, stated these in a statement written in Hausa and emailed to journalists.
He added that they are waging a war against Nigeria in order to
establish a Sharia legal system. He said while they maintain their
hostility against the police, soldiers, politicians and other symbols of
authority, they have now added the youth in these states to their
kill-list.
“We have established that the youth in Borno and Yobe states are now
against our course. They have connived with security operatives and are
actively supporting the government of Nigeria in its war against us. We
have also resolved to fight back,” he said.
Some members of the youth groups, who did not want their identity
disclosed for security reasons, have also vowed to continue their fight
against the Boko Haram insurgents in Maiduguri, saying that they will
not be deterred from carrying out their mission and there will be no
going back.
Borno and Yobe, as well as Adamawa, are under emergency rule with heavy
deployment of soldiers by the federal government. This has, however, not
stopped the terrorists who have killed dozens of people in separate
attacks in the states.
Courtesy of: The Leadership
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