Armed robbers massacre 58 in Zamfara

[PeoplesDaily]

From Ibrahim Sidi Muh'd, Gusau, Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

Fifty-eight people were killed yesterday in Kizara village of Tsafe local government area of Zamfara state by a group of gunmen suspected to be cattle rustlers.

The gunmen said to number about 150 besieged the village at about 4 am, riding motorcycles and opened fire on villagers on sight.

The gunmen also killed the village head, Mallam Lawali Madawaki, the Chief Imam, Mallam Liman Usman, and the leader of the vigilante group.

An eyewitness, Yahaya Bale, said it was a reprisal attack following an earlier organized mission by the community vigilante group who chased the cattle rustlers, to recover some of the animals they had stolen from the community.

He said the rustlers had been sending notice of attack to the community "but every time they send the signal, they would fail to come," he said.

Yahaya further explained that it was in the early morning of Tuesday that the attackers besieged the village in large numbers, shooting adult men but sparing women and children, on the orders of their leaders.

Confirming the incident, the state police Commissioner, Mr. Akila Usman Gwary, who spoke to the press however put the official number of casualties at 30.

Insurgents attack students, others in Borno

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents on Monday afternoon carried out multiple attacks in four separate areas of Borno state killing at least 22 persons, witnesses told newsmen yesterday.

Among those killed were 10 fish sellers, three tea vendors and nine students writing the on-going National Examination Council (NECO).

This came barely 24 hours after a similar incident in the neighboring Damaturu, the Yobe state capital, in which another set of insurgents attacked a secondary school and killed nine persons.

The first incident yesterday in Maiduguri occurred when 10 men armed with assault rifles, who were reportedly on a revenge mission, raided the Alau dam in the outskirts of Maiduguri, and fired sporadic shots at the direction of some youth who came from Maiduguri to buy fresh and tea vendors, killing 13 persons on the spot, leaving several others wounded.

Hansari Ward

Over 13 persons were also killed in Hausari Ward by the suspected insurgents for engaging in the recent capture of the fleeing members of the Boko Haram group.

Those killed comprised some youth living in Gwange, Bulumkutu and Hausari wards where the massive manhunt for the insurgents emanated.

It was further gathered that the assailants, who were said to be on a revenge mission had launched the attack to visit their anger on the victims for alleged involvement in the activities of the youth vigilante group popularly known as 'civilian JTF' who engaged in the massive hunt for the fleeing insurgents.

The gunmen reportedly drove in three Volkswagen Golf cars and trailed their victims to the area, disguising as customers before firing at them, causing serious pandemonium with everyone scampering for safety.

"When the gunmen stormed the area they blocked all entries and exit routes, firing sporadic shots into the air and reprimanded the victims for exposing their members.

"Then they started the shooting," an eyewitness who survived the incident said.

A resident of Gwange and a nieghbour to one of the slain victims, Mallam Mohammed Musa, confirmed the incident to newsmen saying, "yes, one of my neighbours popularly called Garus Maikifi was among the 13 people killed by suspected Boko Haram members."

NECO students killed

The other incident occurred later in the day as another set of insurgents reportedly raided three schools where students were sitting for the NECO, killing nine on the spot, at the Ansarudden , Pimary/Secondary School in Jajeri Ward.

Also attacked were a number of schools at the Federal Low Cost Housing Estate, equally leading to the death of seven more students.

Medical personnel at the Borno State Specialist Hospital who declined identification confirmed to newsmen that corpses of the slain students were deposited at the hospital's mortuary.

Spokesman for the Joint Military Task Force, (JTF), Lt-Col. Sagir Musa, could not reached for comment as at press time.

Boko Haram statement declares war on the youth

Meanwhile, in what seemed as an expression of its anger over the massive capture of several of its members by the youth vigilante group popularly known as 'civilian JTF' in Borno and Yobe states in the last two weeks, the Boko Haram sect yesterday declared war against youth in the two states.

The group, which also said it is waging a war against the Federal Government in order to establish Islamic legal code said in addition to killing the police, soldiers, all security operatives, politicians and other symbols of authority, the group has added youth to the list of its targets for assassination.

In a statement sent to newsmen, one Abu Zinnira, who claimed to be the spokesman for the insurgent group threatened to launch manhunt of their hunters (the youth).

"We have established that youth in Borno and Yobe states are now against our course, they have connived with security operatives and are actively supporting the government of Nigeria in its war against us.

"We have also resolved to fight back, "Abu Zinnira said.

However, some of the youth who promised to fight the Boko Haram insurgents in Maiduguri said they would not be deterred from carrying out their mission and there would be no going back.

UN says 3,000 refugees in Cameroon

Meanwhile the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said yesterday that no fewer than 3,000 Nigerian refugees had arrived Cameroun as the crisis in neighbouring Nigeria deepens.

According to Fatou Lejeune-Kaba, Africa spokesperson for UNHCR, "UNHCR officers said on Tuesday that up to 3,000 refugees had arrived in Cameroon amid reports of at least 6,000 people escaping to Niger over the past weeks as the confrontation between the Nigerian army and the Boko Haram group intensified in the country's northeast.

However, the Minister of the Interior, Abba Moro, re-affirmed yesterday that only 126 Nigerians fled Maiduguri after the emergency rule declaration.

Speaking at a Ministerial Platform, Moro contended that that of the 6, 000 people that fled Maiduguri, to neighbouring countries, following the declaration of state of emergency, only 126 are Nigerians.

Students, teachers narrate ordeal of Yobe attack

Some students of Government Secondary School, Damaturu, on Tuesday narrated how they were attacked by suspected insurgents on Sunday night.

Some students said they had to jump out of their hostels through the window to run to safety.

Narrating their ordeal, the students said they noticed suspicious movements when the insurgents stormed the school at night, using torch-lights tied to their foreheads.

"Initially, we mistook them for army personnel on routine patrol but when they started shooting at random, we ran out of the school. Unfortunately, we could not call the JTF because there was no telecommunication service," a student said.

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