Boko Haram Gunmen Set Three Villages On Fire In Borno

SAN FRANCISCO, June 03, (THEWILL) â€' In what appeared to be a retaliatory attack by Boko Haram gunmen, three villages in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State were completely set ablaze on Tuesday.

The gunmen, who were apparently retaliating the humiliation they suffered at Attagara village Sunday morning after attacking a church, unleashed a more devastating attack on Attagara, Amuda and Ngoshe, setting the three villages ablaze.

The gunmen who killed five worshipers in the Sunday attack as previously reported by THEWILL, however lost 37 of their men when the villagers engaged them in a counter offensive.

But the Boko Haram terrorists according to THEWILL sources returned Tuesday to launch a more devastating attack, not only on Attagara but on the other two villages.

'The insurgents came back in full force, the fury was just too much as they virtually leveled every structure in the already desolate town,' a local source said.

The source further disclosed that many of the residents of the village were however wiser this time around as they had already deserted the village in anticipation of the retaliatory attack.

'Many of our people have already fled to the top of the hill knowing that after the killing of the insurgents on Sunday, they (insurgents) would pay another visit.

'The assumption came to pass as the insurgents trooped into the village this morning but to their dissatisfaction met less to nothing and in their fury put all standing structure on fire,' another source said.

The source who asked not be identified disclosed that the insurgents moved from Attagara to neighbouring Amuda village and leveled every standing building before invading Ngoshe which was also laid to waste.

He said the terrorists had earlier destroyed major parts of Ngoshe last week and the people in the remaining parts have already fled to the hilltop, stressing that though the people that called him from the area could not reveal the casualty figure, they claimed scores of people might have been killed in the latest attack.

According to the source, during the attack on Ngoshe, the Boko Haram gunmen were repelled by an Air Force fighter jet which dropped some bombs on the gunmen who escaped back into the bushes after achieving their goal of destroying the three villages.

It was not however possible to get confirmation of the incident from both military and security authorities in the area because of epileptic telephone services throughout most parts of the day.