Boko Haram attack on another Borno village claims 18 lives

Members of the outlawed Boko Haram sect have struck again in another part of Borno State, killing 18, a few days after they laid siege to a fishing border community of Gashigar where they killed about 15 persons.

The Sunday attack occurred in Alau Ngawo Fatie village of Jere Local Government Area, at about 10 pm.

The village head of Alau, Bulama Ibrahim Alau, told reporters in a telephone interview that when the insurgents arrived in the village, they started shooting sporadically at people and burning houses.

He said: "The Boko Haram insurgents came and launched the attack at about 10 pm, shooting people and burning houses. They were in the village operating for nearly two hours without any security personnel coming to the aid of the villagers.

"I personally counted 18 bodies of victims made up of men, women and children after the Boko Haram members had left the village. Most of those who survived the attack had fled the village as they did not know if they would be attacked again in the future."

Asked if he knew why Alau was singled out for the attack, he said it might be because the youths of the village had joined the local vigilante group called the Civilian JTF.

Another resident of the village, Mustapha Galtimari, a former councillor in Jere Local Government, confirmed that 18 bodies were counted by the villagers after the siege.

He alleged that several calls were made to security operatives asking that they should come to their rescue in the village.

He added that many surviving residents have fled to other more secured parts of the state for fear of being attacked again.

The spokesman of 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Col Muhammadu Dole, confirmed to journalists on the phone that there was an attack, but there were no details yet.