BOKO HARAM SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS FIVE IN NE NIGERIA
BOKO HARAM SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS FIVE IN NE NIGERIA
“The attackers then moved in and
broke in to the silos and took grain, mostly millet, sorghum and maize. They
took what they could and vandalised the rest.”
Five people were killed in a suicide
bomb attack when Boko Haram raided a remote village in northeast Nigeria, a
civilian militia member and the emergency services said Thursday.
Ibrahim Liman, from the Civilian
Joint Taskforce (CJTF), said the attack happened at Belbelu village, near
Kayamla, in the Konduga area of Borno state, at about 10:00 am (0900 GMT).
Gunmen stormed the village and one of
the jihadists broke off and headed towards a grain silo, forcing members of the
CJTF to open fire.
“They kept firing at them with their
muskets from behind the fence while he kept advancing and also firing back with
his AK-47,” Liman told AFP.
“When he got closer, he detonated the
explosives wrapped around his body, killing four CJTF and wounding two others.
“A woman nearby was also killed. The
attack forced the vigilantes to flee back to the village. That led to panic
among villagers who began to flee.
“The attackers then moved in and
broke in to the silos and took grain, mostly millet, sorghum and maize. They
took what they could and vandalised the rest.”
The account was supported by a member
of the emergency services in Borno, who asked not to be identified for security
reasons.
The Konduga district to the southeast
of Maiduguri has been a known hotbed of Boko Haram activity despite government
and military claims the group is a spent force.
In August, four members of the CJTF
were among five people killed in a Boko Haram ambush on a convoy of trucks
under armed escort at Meleri village.
In June, Boko Haram gunmen hid in
trees and killed eight members of the CJTF outside Kayamla. Eight loggers were
killed and their bodies burnt near the village in April.
Militant fighters killed four traders
at the weekly market in the village in April 2015 before looting food and
taking away livestock.
In March 2014, five people were
killed and several others wounded when the Nigerian Air Force bombed Kayamla in
the mistaken belief it was a Boko Haram camp.The latest attacks underline the
continued threat from the Islamist rebels, particularly against vulnerable
communities in hard-to-reach rural areas.
On Wednesday, the Norwegian Refugee
Council published new research that indicated most of the 1.8 million people
still displaced by the conflict would not return home because of fears about
security.The biggest threat to civilians has been suicide bombers.
Borno state police said three women
strapped with explosives tried to get into Molai General Hospital, on the
outskirts of Maiduguri, at about 8:30 pm on Wednesday.They blew themselves up
but there were no other injuries. About two hours later, a fourth bomber blew
up in a nearby village.