Boko Haram, Fulani Herdsmen Kill 22 in Borno, Plateau

Michael Olugbode and Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

About 22 persons were on Sunday feared killed in separate attacks in Borno and Plateau States.

While eight persons were killed and several houses burnt down in separate attacks on Mangari and Warawara villages in Biu Local Government Area of Borno State by Boko Haram terrorists 14 were killed by suspected Fulani attackers at Kwata in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Mangari and Warawara villages are about five kilometres and seven kilometres away respectively from Buratai, the home town of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai.

One of the residents of Mangari who fled to Miringa town, Mallam Ibrahim Abubakar, told THISDAY on phone yesterday that the insurgents besieged his village at about 3:15p.m. on Sunday on motorcycles and bicycles.

He said they shot sporadically and set houses ablaze.

Abubakar said: “I saw three person who were killed and their corpses laid on the streets.”
He added: “When we arrived Miringa I was told that five other person were missing, I cannot, up till now, tell you their whereabouts, we cannot say whether they were equally killed or abducted by the rampaging insurgents.”

The attack on Warawara, it was learnt, occurred after the siege on Mangari.

It was gathered from the residents of the village that the insurgents moved to Warawara about seven kilometres away from Buratai, setting virtually all the building ablaze and killing indiscriminately.

A resident of Warawara, Ismail Azeez, said the attackers came at about 6:15a.m yesterday, setting houses ablaze, and killing five persons.

Speaking with THISDAY on phone, Azeez said: “The Boko Haram terrorist killed five person in our village including my brother, as I am speaking to you now our village head and other elders of the town have gone to bury the copses and I believe when they come back we will know the number of those killed and their identities.”

A member of the vigilante group in Miringa, the largest village in the area, Alhaji Ahmed Miringa, confirming the two attacks, said: “There are two separate attacks on Mangari and Warawara where eight persons were killed.”

He said some members of the vigilance group and soldiers had gone to Warawara village with the intention of going after the fleeing insurgents.

In Plateau State, the Fulani, according to a source in the community, Mr. John Dalyop, had written to warn the community of Kwata, Trade Centre, and Kuru that they were not going to enjoy a peaceful Christmas season, but the communities took the warning lightly.

But on Sunday night, the Fulani lived up to their threat when they attacked about six houses in Kwata leaving not less than 14 dead.
Dalyop said the attackers, who arrived the community at about 8p.m, broke into their houses through the weak doors and windows most of which are made from zinc roofing sheets.

“They hacked down helpless children and women, leaving them in the pool of their blood. Others, who tried to escape into the nearby bush were shot by the attackers.”

When THISDAY visited the community, it was wailing and weeping all the way, as people with relatives in the community hurried to see if they were spared.

Another source from the community, who described the incident as dastardly, added that the attackers communicated only in English and Hausa languages throughout the raid, adding that the men in the community were yet to return home from where they had gone to relax. He said he hid in-between the ridges of the farmland all through the about 30-minutes raid, adding that the security operatives only arrived about an hour after the attackers had escaped into the nearby hills.

The corpses of the victims were seen outside littering the attacked compounds, while the injured have been rushed to the hospital as at the time of this report.

Suspecting a reprisal, spokesman of Special Task Force (STF), Capt Ikedichi Iweha said “two days ago two Fulani men were killed in Wereng village and suspecting there will a reprisal we moved our men to the village (Wereng) but unfortunately they attacked a different village.

“We had invited the district of Wereng to explain what happened in his village, but he has been on the run.

“The Kwata community also had at one time rejected the deployment of security men to the area, claiming they could defend themselves; with this attack they now know that they don’t have such weapon to withstand the attackers.”

He advised that an eye for an eye would not solve the problem. He therefore appealed for calm, adding that he has deployed soldiers to the area.