Boko Haram Kills At Least 148 In Fresh Borno Massacre

Suspected Boko Haram militants have killed no fewer than 148 people with 68 sustaining injuries in an attack carried out on homes and mosques in Borno state.



In a report on The Nation, one of the survivor who escaped to Maiduguri gave a horrific account of how the terrorist surrounded the entire Kukawa village and started shooting sporadically at the time the Muslims fateful were about to break their fast for the day.

“We started hearing gunshots from nowhere all over the town. The terrorists surrounded the town shooting sporadically on the residents. Confusion and panic took over the town as people began to run for their lives to unknown destination confused”, Aji Bukar narrated.

He added that many of the dead bodies are still littered on the streets as the residents are afraid to come out to bury the dead as the time he had escaped.

“As I speak to you, some of the corpses were still not buried. People are afraid to come out. The entire village is deserted. Elders in town were afraid the attackers may return which is delaying the burial of the dead bodies scattered over the town” he said.

A member of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), who also spoke to the media outfit on phone said that the insurgents caught up many residents and shot them in two separate mosques with the injuring of several others.

“People were just preparing to break their Ramadan fast and already gathered in nearby mosques when Boko Haram people came on in a convoy of Toyota Hilux vehicles and motorcycles painted in ash colour.

“They rounded up people and opened fire on them. Boko Haram later set fire on several houses burning many people. One of our colleagues who escaped the attack said they recovered 97 dead bodies, some of them burnt beyond recognition before burying them this afternoon (Thursday)”, he said.

A former local official of Kukawa Local Government, Alhaji Habib Kakero wrote on his Facebook: “Our town Kukawa has been attacked by Boko Haram, they killed many of our people, and may Allah repose their souls in perfect peace.”

Mohammed Kukawa who hails from Kukawa but resides in Maiduguri informed that he lost three of his family members in the attack.

“A family member who escaped to a nearby village in Niger Republic  has called to tell me my elder brother, who is a farmer, uncle and other relations were among those killed Wednesday,” he said.

A local from Kukawa village, who gave his name as Kolo (a fisherman) while speaking to AFP said: “The attackers have killed at least 97 people,”  adding that he counted the bodies. “They wiped out the immediate family of my uncle …They killed his children, about five of them, and set his entire house ablaze.”

Another witness called Babami Alhaji Kolo, who fled to Maiduguri, the state capital after the attack took place; said more than 50 militants stormed the village early Wednesday evening.

“The terrorists first descended on Muslim worshipers in various mosques who were observing the Maghrib prayer shortly after breaking their fast.

“They… opened fire on the worshipers who were mostly men and young children.

“They spared nobody. In fact, while some of the terrorists waited and set most of the corpses on fire, others proceeded to houses and shot indiscriminately at women who were preparing food,”  he said.

Shortly after the 148 people died in the fresh massacre, the Boko Haram militants gunned down 48 Muslim worshippers in another attack in two North-Eastern villages, another witness and a lawmaker told AFP.

The local lawmaker, who gave his name as Mohammed Tahir, said:“The Boko Haram gunmen killed 48 men and injured 11 others in the attack.”