Boko Haram Attack On Gamboru Ngala Claims 300 Lives
SAN FRANCISCO, May 06, (THEWILL) â€' Boko Haram attack on Gamborou Ngala, a Borno State border town between Nigeria and Cameroon , has claimed the lives of 300 persons.
Gamboru is the administrative headquarters of Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State and lies at about 200km from Maiduguri, the state capital.
The victims met their untimely death Monday as the Boko Harm gunmen, targeting a local market, drove into the town in armoured vehicles, shooting sporadically into the crowd at the market before proceeding into the town to unleash more terror.
Confirming the attack while speaking on a BBC Hausa report monitored in Maiduguri on Tuesday, the Member representing the area in the Senate, Senator Ahmed Zannah, said the gunmen operated for about 12 hours without any hindrance. He said many other persons were injured while almost all the houses and shops in the town were burnt down during the attack.
The attackers stormed the communities in the night when residents were still sleeping, setting ablaze houses and shot residents who tried to escaped from the fire.
About 300 persons were confirmed dead after the incident, with several others injured. Almost all the houses in the communities were destroyed by the hoodlums who threw Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) at the buidings.
'My brother who was at the scene of the attack told me that the actual number of the dead cannot be ascertained but at least they are up to 300. In fact as we spoke he wept following the high number of the dead bodies which littered the market,' he said.
He disclosed that the security forces earlier deployed to the area, moved to the Lake Chad axis when they received intelligence reportthat some gunmen were sighted with abducted schoolgirls moving to the area.
'Initially there were many security operatives in the town to secure it from possible attacks. However upon receiving information over themovements of insurgents with kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls towards Lake Chad area,they withdraw and moved further to confront the gunmen.
'It was just an hour after their withdrawal that the terrorists invaded the town, shooting everyone at sight and setting buildings on fire. So far 200 vehicles and thousands of houses, shops and an outfit of the Nigerian Customs Service, (NCS) were all burnt,' he explained. A local government official who craved anonymity also confirmed the casualty figures.
'It is really a terrible situation, we had wanted to rush relief materials to the area to provide temporary succor to the victims. But we were prevailed upon by security agents to shelve our plans or security reasons,' he said as he appealed to the state and Federal Governments to assist in rehabilitating the victims of the attack.