LEADERSHIP THURSDAY AUGUST 29, 2013 14 KILLED IN FRESH BOKO HARAM ATTACK IN BAMA TOWN No fewer than 14 people have been killed while nine others sustained various degrees of injury when suspected Boko Haram sect attacked Bama local government area of Borno State in the early hours of Sunday. This attack makes it the fourth early morning attack on Muslims observing Subh prayers in the mosque and is believed to be in retaliation of the purported killing of the sect’s leader by the Joint Military Task Force (JTF). Bama is about 67 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital, and a stronghold of Boko Haram and had witnessed series of attacks and killings. The last episode was when some armed terrorists launched coordinated attacks on mobile police barracks and some military posts, which led to the death of the sect’s top commander, Momodu Bama, who had a bounty of N25 million on his head. Similarly, the sect’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, was killed in an exchange of gun battle with security agents. The chairman of the council, Alhaji Baba Shehu Gulumba, who confirmed the attack in an interview with LEADERSHIP on Monday in Maiduguri said he had attended the funeral of 13 of the victims in Bama yesterday morning but could not attend the other one “because he was buried today (yesterday) in Maiduguri after he died from his wounds after being admitted at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH)”. Alhaji Gulumba further said that the Bama local government council would pay all the hospital bills of the injured surviving eight victims that are admitted at the UMTH, adding that they are currently responding to treatment. He revealed that all the dead and injured were members of the youth volunteers, popularly called Civilian JTF, who had been assisting security operatives in arresting Boko Haram suspects in the town and Borno State in general. “They were on guard duty when the sect members dressed in military camouflage uniform deceived them by telling them that they were needed at a meeting nearby. When they had been lured away from their duty posts, they were then attacked and killed while some escaped with various degrees of injuries,” he said. A local resident in Bama who did not want his name mentioned in print also corroborated the chairman’s story that the remains of the 13 victims had been buried in Bama town according to Islamic rites, while the injured ones had been admitted at the UMTH. A member of staff of UMTH also confirmed that there are some victims of the Bama attacks in the hospital but cannot give any details about them since he was not authorised to do so. The source noted that it is only the JTF that can speak on the matter, especially on the soldiers that are also hospitalised at the UMTH. Meanwhile our correspondent gathered that more young men had enrolled into the Civilian JTF in Bama town and other villages, vowing to fight the Boko Haram insurgency to the end. Borno State Police public relations officer (PPRO), DSP Gideon Jubrin and the Military Task Force spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa could not be reached for confirmation, but a nurse at UMTH, who asked not to be named, confirmed the incident yesterday.
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 11:59:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015