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Boko Haram Abducts 185 In Attack On Village Near Chibok - Politics - Nairaland

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Boko Haram Attacks Village Near Chibok / Boko Haram Abducts Teenage Girls In Borno, Kill Seven / Massive Attack Ongoing In A Village Near Chibok (2) (3) (4)

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Boko Haram Abducts 185 In Attack On Village Near Chibok by Johnnyessence(m): 5:56am On Dec 19, 2014
Militants have killed 35 people and kidnapped no fewer than 185, fleeing residents said yesterday of an
attack in Borno State town Gumsuri, 20 kilometres to Chibok, where nearly 300 schoolgirls were taken
hostage in April.
Teenager Aji Ibrahim said he was lucky to escape into the bushes.
“No doubt, they were Boko Haram members because they were chanting `Allahu akbar’ (God is great) while
shooting at people and torching houses,” he told The Associated Press.
The attack on Gumsuri happened on Sunday night, said a security official and a local government officer,
who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. The news took days to
emerge because the militants have destroyed communications towers in the area.
Although nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack, Boko Haram is believed to be behind it.
The people kidnapped by the militants include women and children. The hostages were carted away on
trucks towards Sambisa Forest, a notorious rebel stronghold, two local officials and a vigilante leader said.
Both officials, who requested anonymity, said the local government established the number of those
abducted through contacting families, ward heads and emirs.
A vigilante leader based in the Borno State capital, Maiduguri, Usman Kakani, told AFP that fighters who
were in Gumsari during the attack provided a figure of 191 abducted, including women, girls and boys.
Gumsuri is roughly 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Maiduguri and falls on the road that leads to Chibok.
Those who fled the village said it was too dangerous to head directly to Maiduguri. Instead, they travelled
several hundred kilometres in the opposite direction to connect with the main road that leads to the state
capital.
Mukhtar Buba, a Gumsuri resident who fled to Maiduguri, also confirmed that women and children were
taken. “After killing our youths, the insurgents have taken away our wives and daughters,” he said.
Other witnesses recounted the gory incident: A local government official who pleaded anonymity said: “Our
youth that engaged the insurgents, in serious fight have been seriously injured because the attackers
stormed the village in convoy of vehicles with petrol bombs and dangerous weapons.
“For the past one year, the insurgents have made several attempts to attack Gumsuri but were resisted by
the gallant youths of the village who always had the upper hand during confrontation. It is sad that on
Sunday, the village was subdued.”
Another official added: “They divided themselves into two groups. While the first group was fighting with
the vigilantes, the second group launched simultaneous attacks from behind them . They killed 32 people,
including the chief Imam and leader of the youth.”
Abdullahi Kolomi who could not explain how he escaped to Maiduguri said that more than half of the town
was set ablaze.
“I am not sure what will be left behind in Gumsuri because more than half of the village was in flames when
some of us decided to run. We just took that step thinking that we would die but only God knows how and
why we came out alive.
The terrorists ruthlessly attacked us and killed at will. They had guns and bombs; they came with petrol in
jerrycans which they used in setting houses ablaze. Many shops and foodstuff have been destroyed.
“I managed to escape and trekked throughout the night. I took refuge in Biu for three days before proceeding
to Maiduguri, but I lost everything.”
Another eyewitness, Adamu Muktari, who has escaped to Gombe State said the insurgents came to the
village in hundreds and ordered the villagers to assemble in an open place where they separated the women
from men, the young girls and boys, before they opened fire on those that refused to join them on their
mission.
The insurgents gathered the insurget ordered the people to assemble in a particular place outside the
village.
“On noticing that the insurgents planned to kill the youths and abduct young ladies or girls, others started
to run away. Some were killed, some injured and some escaped.
“We saw hell. We never expect they will turn against us in the village because they used to come and pass
through the village and have never asked anybody to run away or hurt anybody until today we just saw
them and they asked us to come out from our houses and assemble outside,” Muktari narrated.
Boko Haram has increasingly used kidnappings to boost its supply of child fighters, porters and young
women who have reportedly been used as sex slaves.
The mass abductions in Chibok brought unprecedented attention to Boko Haram’s five-year extremist
uprising, and President Goodluck Jonathan vowed to end the conflict.
But violence has escalated since April and the Gumsuri attack will no doubt cast further doubt on Nigeria’s
ability to contain the crisis.
Also yesterday, Cameroon’s army said it had killed 116 Boko Haram fighters who attacked one of its bases.
AFP quoted Defence ministry spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Didier Badjeck.
Militants ambushed a column of army vehicles, using an improvised explosive device and then hundreds
attacked in the region of Amchide, 65 km (40 miles) north of Maroua, at around 10.30 a.m. local time (0930
GMT).
“The response of our forces was swift and appropriate. The attack was repulsed and the attackers
neutralised,” Badjeck said yesterday, adding that 116 militants died. One soldier was killed and at least two
vehicles lost.
A senior official in Cameroon’s Far North region confirmed Wednesday’s attack and the toll and said it was
followed by another attack overnight for which casualties are unknown.
The army determines death tolls either visually, or by counting the number of vehicles it destroys and
estimating how many militants each vehicle carried, said the official, who declined to be identified.
Residents told the BBC the armed militants attacked the border town of Amchide on Wednesday, arriving in
two vehicles with many others on foot.
They raided the market area, setting fire to shops and more than 50 houses.
Cameroon army said vehicles from its elite battalion had been caught in an ambush on Wednesday.
“At the same time… the Amchide military base was attacked by hundreds of fighters from the sect, but the
response from our defence forces was instant and appropriate,” AFP quotes it as saying.
One Cameroonian soldier was killed and an officer is missing, it reports. thenationonlineng.net/new/boko-haram-abducts-185-attack-village-near-chibok/
Re: Boko Haram Abducts 185 In Attack On Village Near Chibok by faithugo64(f): 6:18am On Dec 19, 2014
All those sponsoring boko haram shall never know peace,before their very eyes,their sons and daughters shall be slayed AMEN!!!
Re: Boko Haram Abducts 185 In Attack On Village Near Chibok by okosodo: 6:43am On Dec 19, 2014
The babies they brewed for yes has come back to hunt them no doubt. Its not the army's fault as 90% of its generals and fighters are passive saboteurs
Re: Boko Haram Abducts 185 In Attack On Village Near Chibok by Nobody: 6:45am On Dec 19, 2014
am sure Jonathanians will doubt this too.

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