He said that before the attack, he had notified the military of the jihadists’ presence, warning that the villages were not safe. This week they killed up to 170 people in attacks in Borno, police have said [AP].
Advertisement
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday condemned the latest attacks as barbaric and said they underline the need for an expanded multinational army to crush the extremists.
“The men had fled Gwargware village in (neighboring) Yobe state to seek refuge in our village after Boko Haram tried to force them to join their ranks”, said resident Isa Mshelia.
The European Union has sent a message of condolence to Nigeria and the people over Thursday’s killing of over 145 people in the north-eastern state of Borno by the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
A young female suicide bomber also killed 12 worshippers when she blew herself up in a mosque.
Boko Haram, which has become a major security threat in Nigeria since 2009, seeks to enshrine the Islamic Sharia law in the constitution of Nigeria.
The Street Journal gathered on Saturday that some of the residents were killed on their farms, while others lost their lives at home. For the some 1.5 million Nigerians displaced by the group, returning home remains impossible as their towns are still considered too unstable.
Bloody assaults blamed on Boko Haram this week have killed more than 160 people in Borno State.
Boko Haram may no longer hold territory but there is little to celebrate when large swathes of the north-east are clearly not under any kind of government control.
“President Buhari urges Muslims in Nigeria and across the world to reject with one voice the attackers claim to be acting in the name of Islam, and tell the terrorists to stop the abasement of their religion”.
Adesina said Buhari was poised to defeat the insurgency but the government would talk if Boko Haram came to the table.
The armies managed to push the militants out of several towns and villages, but the recent attacks show the group to be far from defeated.
Advertisement
The Nigerian government is being aided by mercenaries and troops from neighbouring countries Chad, Benin, Niger and Cameroon in its offensive against Boko Haram and has scored some successes since the military co-operation started in February.
