Konduga : Military Bombardment Begins As Death Toll Rises To 62

SAN FRANCISCO, February 14, (THEWILL) - The military on Friday began a massive manhunt for the Boko insurgents who wreaked havoc on Kondunga town in Borno State  Tuesday   as death toll in the attack rose to 62.

The exercise, according to military sources,  was also to search for more corpses of the victims  as the death toll which stood at  53 on Tuesday  rose to   57 on Thursday with four persons reportedly dead from injuries at University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH).

The death toll further rose to 62 on Friday  with  five more corpses  recovered from the  surrounding bushes in the town as residents continued to flee in droves.

The District Head of Konduga, Zannah Masu Yale,  who confirmed the development  said some members of a volunteer group, the Konduga Volunteer Group,  retrieved five more bodies in the bush on Thursday  and buried them at the cemetery according to Islamic rites in the evening.

Yale said : "After a two-hour search for more bodies in the bush yesterday, members of the volunteer group retrieved five bodies; and were buried at the cemetery.

This represents a total of 62 people killed, including the four injured people that died at the UMTH yesterday in Maiduguri,'  he said.

He disclosed that the hoodlums came back to attack a village in the outskirts of town on Thursday but discovered that people have already flee the town.

"Most of my people had already fled when the attackers came calling even though a few of us, the agile men hid in nearby farmlands.

The attackers surrounded Malari village and started shooting in the air but changed their mind when they realised that nobody was in the village.

Luckily enough, they did not burn any property.
," he said.
Yale added:  "When we heard of the attack, we informed relevant authorities and security measures were taken.

Most of the people have returned to their homes in Malari village, located 10 kilometres west of destroyed Konduga town.

" Meanwhile, the  National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has resettled over 2,500 residents of the town fleeing to safety at two resettlement centres just as NEMA    has also  kick-started the distribution of relief materials and food items to them.