Eight persons were killed and several
women and children abducted by suspected members of Boko Haram
terrorists from Dzaku village in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of
Borno State.
According to residents of the village,
the terrorist invaded the area on Monday evening, killing, carting away
women and children including food stuffs.
One of the indigenes of the village,
Amos Ali, who resides in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, said some
of his relatives who fled to seek refuge with him, said some terrorists
who came into Dzaku in two Toyota Hilux vehicles were armed with AK47
rifles and petrol bombs. He added that they wreaked havoc without
confrontation.
Ali who said one of his sister was among
those abducted by the attackers, lamented that “because of lack of
telecommunication service, we later received a distress call from our
community yesterday that Boko Haram sect attacked our people and killed
eight before abducting several others including my sister.
He added: “We are much worried especially now that the military said it has eliminated the terrorists from the region.”
Askira Uba is in Southern Borno
senatorial district and about 180kilometres drive from Maiduguri, the
state capital, that is believed to be the birthplace of Boko Haram and
had witnessed series of deadly attacks from the sect in the last six
year.
When contacted, the Police Public
Relations Officer, Victor Isuku, said he was yet to be informed of the
incident but promised that he would get back on getting details from the
area.
Meanwhile, following the accidental
bombing by the Nigerian Air Force on an internally displaced persons
camp (IDP) last week, which led to the death of over 200 persons, the
International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) has distributed food
items to over 25,000 people in Rann, Borno State, where the incident
occurred.
The Red Cross has remained undeterred by the unfortunate incident, despite losing six of its staff.
It returned a few days later to continue humanitarian services in Rann and after three days was able to provide succour to more than 25,000 people in the town, which recently buried 234 persons lost in the incident.
It returned a few days later to continue humanitarian services in Rann and after three days was able to provide succour to more than 25,000 people in the town, which recently buried 234 persons lost in the incident.
The Red Cross, in a statement yesterday
by its communications coordinator, Aleksandra Mosimann said: “More than
25,000 people in Rann received food during three days of distribution by
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that ended on
Monday.
“The recipients received rice, beans,
oil, salt and corn soya blend in quantities that should last for five
weeks. The distribution was carried out by the ICRC and community
volunteers.”
Mosimann also quoted the Red Cross’ economic security coordinator, Mohammed Sheikh-Ali as saying that “people in Rann were happy to receive food”.
Mosimann also quoted the Red Cross’ economic security coordinator, Mohammed Sheikh-Ali as saying that “people in Rann were happy to receive food”.
“They have been isolated by rains and
poor quality roads since June and running very low on food supplies,”
the Red Cross’ coordinator added.
Sheikh-Ali said: “At the beginning of
January, we laid sand bags on the road for our trucks to be able to
cross. We got 12 trucks full of food to Rann last week on the day of the
airstrike, which prevented us from distributing the items.
“As soon as medical evacuations were over, we organised the distribution with the help of the community.”
Last week’s airstrike killed and wounded scores of people, including 20 aid workers from the Nigerian Red Cross Society.
Last week’s airstrike killed and wounded scores of people, including 20 aid workers from the Nigerian Red Cross Society.
Credit; Thisday Newspapers
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