142 Dead Bodies Evacuated After Benishiekh Boko Haram Attack
24 Hours after Boko Haram Terrorist struck , 142 corpses have been evacuated from bushes around scene of the incident in Benisheikh town says Saidu Yakubu an official of Borno State Environmental Protection Agency (BOSEPA) today.
Yakubu, told visiting Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima that yesterday alone 87 corpses were evacuated from the road and bushes even as the evacuation continued noting that ” for now we have evacuated
142 corpses”.
Apart from corpses that litter some parts of the town , governor Shettima met on ground two compactor waste evacuation trucks which were fully loaded with corpses.
The governor was also told by residents that fourteen civilians and five armed personnel ( 2 soldiers and 3 policemen) were killed in Benisheikh town by the outlawed sect.
It was also gathered from residents that 15 trucks, 18 vehicles, 8 motorcycles and 6 bicycles were set ablaze by the sect members, who were said to have been about 300.
The terrorists also set ablaze about 150 houses, shops and made away with ten vehicles from Benisheikh town.
The military post in the area and the local government secretariat were also attacked with rocket as their roofs were scattered.
Alhaji Bunu Kaigama, Caretaker Chairman of Kaga local government council said told the governor that “14 persons lost their lives within the town yesterday from the attack by Boko Haram members. Many others were killed along the road to Maiduguri and Damaturu”.
Governor Kashim Shettima who was on a sympathy visit to Benishiek town urged the people not to leave the town despite continued attack
“Please don’t leave your town in spite of the trauma you are undergoing due to the unfortunate experience. Government is going to rebuild all the houses destroyed by the attackers and as soon as I leave here I will constitute a five man committee which will be given N50 million to come and commence reconstruction work immediately”.
“Everyone who has lost something will be compensated to enable them have a fresh start. All vehicles burnt or taken away by the insurgents will equally be replaced”, he said.
The governor urged the people not to leave thier ancesteral home as government will do everything within its power to make life worth living again for them. He said: “Families of the 14 deceased shall be given N250,000 each.”
The governor described the attack as barbaric and un-Islamic, insisting that no one in his right senses will do it, he said “it is just insanity to destroy public structure, people’s houses and kill people like they did.”
At the security post an officer Lt. Col. Babalola told the governor that 2 soldiers and 3 policemen also lost thier lives in Wednesday’s encounter.
An elder Jibrin Shuwa 66 years old had told journalists that: “The Boko Haram came and took away all our foodstuff living us with nothing to eat”.
The people of the area were promised by the Commissioner of Police and Brigade Commander of 21 Armoured Brigade, Lawal Tanko and Brig. Gen. Idris Mohammed Yusuf that more troops would be deployed to the area to secure it against future attack.