Boko Haram rampages Nigeria, kills over 100 and captures town
Islamic militants, Boko Haram, continue their reign of terror across Nigeria, attacking and raiding the remote northeast Nigerian town of Damboa over the weekend, shooting dead more than 40 residents and burning down houses. The group raised their black and white flag to proclaim they control one town after executing over 100 residents.
Hundreds of people in another north-eastern area, Askira Uba, are fleeing after receiving letters from the Boko Haram threatening to attack and take over their villages, Abbas Gava, a spokesman for the Nigerian Vigilante Group said.
“Nine major villages are on the run,” he said.
The terrorist launched rocket-propelled grenades, throwing homemade bombs into Damboa homes and gunning down people as they tried to escape the ensuing fires. Most of the town had burned down, they said.
Survivor Abdul Bulama, a resident who fled Damboa to the nearby town of Biu, spoke to a reporter about the situation.
“Everybody is in fear now that Boko Haram may return for more attacks,” Bulama said. “The town is deserted.”
Damboa has been attacked before this year, and Bulama said life was just “getting back to normal.”
A chairman of the vigilante group, Abba Aji Khalil, said Saturday that at least 100 people had been killed and that this number would almost certainly rise.
The Associated Press cited a human rights advocate who put the toll far beyond 100.
Boko Haram made global headlines after kidnapping over 200 young girls and women, selling them into sex slavery. Their horrific acts of violence has divided the country over the last several years.
IDMC’s report highlights that despite counterinsurgency operations and the imposition of a state of emergency by the Nigerian government in May 2013, Boko Haram attacks have escalated in frequency and impact, resulting in the deaths of at least 3,300 people so far in 2014 and forcing at least 250,000 people to flee their homes between May of last year and March.
“Suffering of civilians is the terrible dividend of this violent reality, and children are particularly on the front line here” says Zamudio. “We are hearing reports of the brutal killings and maimings, forced recruitment and abduction of children, rape and sexual violence, forced marriage of young girls and children now orphaned as a result of being separated from their parents during flight.”