No fewer than 40 people were killed yesterday when Boko Haram suspects attacked Chuha A, Chuha B and Korongilim villages in Chibok Local Government Area of beleaguered Borno State.
They also destroyed many homes, shops and vehicles after carting away foodstuff and livestock.
Mallam Yakubu Joshua a youth leader in Chibok, who spoke on the telephone: “Some suspected Boko Haram terrorists invaded Chuha A, Chuha B, and Korongilim villages of Chibok local government area, killing over 40 persons.
“The terrorists injured many villagers, burnt many houses and made away with our foodstuff.
“The attack, which commenced around 7a.m. on Sunday, lasted over five hours before the military intervened. Some residents of Chibok made frantic telephone calls to the military authorities but unfortunately, they (military) only started bombing the surrounding after over 40 of our people had been killed.
“The bodies of our people are still littered all around the villages. Our fear is that many innocent villagers may be hit by the bombings by the military,” Joshua said.
Chairman, Sector 5 of the vigilante group, Abba Aji Khalil, said: “our members in Chibok and neighbouring local government areas are already in hot pursuit of the suspected terrorists.”
Borno Police Commissioner Lawal Tanko and spokesman DSP Gideon Jubrincould not confirm the killings.
Also a suicide bomber hit a military post with his bomb laden car near a secondary school in Gwoza yesterday, killing three security operatives suspected to be soldiers while three others were wounded.
The suicide bomber, it was learnt, came through Wala and Warabe villages and hit the military post with deafening noise that rocked the neighbourhood, before people started to scamper for safety.
“We were woken up this morning with a bomb blast on the road near the school. Some of us started to run for safety, while others fled to the hill tops of Gwoza. I cannot tell say the exact casualties, but three soldiers were killed, while others took to their heels.
“There were no civilian casualties, as some people were still asleep when the suicide bomber detonated the explosives that killed him and the three,” a source told our correspondent on the telephone.
The source said the casualty figure could have been higher, as people were prevented from plying the road by the military for safety since last month.