Latest Boko Haram attack leaves 45 as ‘Islamic State’ influence spreds
Dozens of people have been killed in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in north-eastern Nigeria, officials and witnesses say. Gunmen rampaged through the village of Azaya Kura in the Mafa area in Borno state, killing at least 45 people.
Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram leader, shown in a YouTube video
Shettima Lawan, caretaker chairman of the local government, called it “wicked and despicable”, AFP reports. Boko Haram has taken control of a series of towns and villages in north-eastern Nigeria in recent months.
An official of the Nigeria Vigilante Group, Muhammed Gava, confirmed to VOA by phone that “there was an attack and many people were killed, according to the reports we got from the Vigilante officials from that axis.”
Jabir Usman, a local from the attacked community, discussed the death toll with reporters in Maiduguri.
“From what we counted so far, 45 men have been killed and there are others that died in the bushes… due [to] excessive bleeding after sustaining bullet injuries,” Usman said.
Alhaji Shettima Lawan, the caretaker chairman of Mafa Council, said he visited Azaya Kura on Thursday to confirm the attack.
“I am still searching for motives behind mass killing and destruction by some people under the guise of entrenching certain religion,” he said. “I wish to appeal to the federal government to take urgent steps and rescue our people from imminent extinction.”
Striving for a caliphate (or Islamic State) similar to the movement by the Sunni Muslims in Iraq and Syria, Boko Haram is rampaging across northern Nigeria, killing over 2,000 citizens in 2014 alone.
