Suspected Boko Haram insurgents have killed over 40 persons in separate attacks in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State between Thursday and Saturday, according to the council's chairman, Baba Shehu Gulumba.
Addressing journalists at the Government House in Maiduguri shortly after reporting the incident to Governor Kashim Shettima, Gulumba said many other residents were injured, while scores of houses, vehicles, shops and other property were set ablaze by the rampaging gunmen in an onslaught which lasted for several hours.
The council boss described the attack as barbaric, saying the assailants who emerged from a nearby bush stormed Gulumba and T-Junction communities, firing sporadically. "The gunmen laid siege on some rural communities, the first area of the attack was at Gulumba village, where 27 people were killed on the spot with 12 others wounded.
"The gunmen had driven into the area in Hilux vehicles and motorcycles at about 6am, before firing into innocent civilians, burning houses, shops, vehicles as well as public buildings'', the chairman said.
According to him, the insurgents, numbering over 70, armed with assault rifles, explosives and other dangerous weapons shot other fleeing locals, saying some of the victims were slaughtered when the insurgents' bullets could not penetrate them.
"During the onslaught, the rampaging invaders burnt 300 houses, 20 shops , 204 livestock, 35 motorcycles, 15 cars, 250 sewing machines, 450 bags of cereal and cash estimated at N3.5 million. "In the second incident, 13 people were attacked and killed on Saturday at the T-Junction village when another set of insurgents stormed the area, shooting anyone at sight," he said.
