As the Nigerian military alongside its Chadian, Nigerien and Cameroonian counterparts tighten the noose around Boko Haram in Northeast Nigeria, residents of Damasak in Borno State have claimed that the insurgents kidnapped over 400 women and children.
This latest claim of mass abduction is reminiscent of the Chibok schoolgirls’ saga, where over 200 girls were abducted in one fell swoop from their hostels about a year ago.
According to the residents, the insurgents took the women and children with them as they left the town after it was freed by troops from Niger and Chad, a few days ago.
“They took 506 young women and children, killing about 50 of them before leaving”, a trader, Souleymane Ali, told Reuters.
“We don’t know if they killed others after leaving, but they took the rest with them”.
Lt.-Col. Toumba Mohamed, the Nigerien commander of the Niger-Chad forces in Damasak, confirmed to Reuters that residents reported between 400 and 500 women and children kidnapped.
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