Sunday during a fierce gunfight between
insurgents and soldiers in Mafa, a
community 45 kilometres to the East of
Maiduguri, Borno State.
Security and eyewitnesses said that 32
civilian victims were given mass burial
on Monday. The other three victims are
believed to be policemen.
The PUNCH had reported exclusively on
Monday that Boko Haram militants
attacked the Mafa Local Government
Area headquarters before setting many
houses in the village ablaze.
It was gathered from one of the military
sources that the insurgents armed with
AA assault rifles and Rocket Propelled
Grenades, also succeeded in setting fire
to the camp of the soldiers in the
community.
The Mafa attack is the third within 24
hours in the troubled state. On Saturday
night twin bomb blasts which rocked
Maiduguri left 52 people dead while
another attack on Mainok village by the
insurgents killed 39.
A witness told one of our
correspondents that the Mafa attack
casualties could have been higher if
many residents who had foreknowledge
of it had not fled two weeks earlier.
He said that some of the villagers took
refuge in a mosque but were burnt by
the insurgents.
The Senator representing the area,
Ahmed Zannah, confirmed this when
he told journalists that most of the
residents, especially women and
children, had left the village before the
attack.
Zannah said, "A bomb exploded and
two policemen were killed while trying
to evacuate injured victims. I have
received a detailed report from my
constituents in Mafa that 29 people
died during the attack.
"I was reliably informed by my people
that the soldiers in Mafa fled during
the attack because they could not stand
the superior weapons of the Boko
Haram gunmen."
The senator added that military
authorities had officially informed the
Borno State Government that they
could not account for seven soldiers
deployed in Mafa.
A resident of Mafa, Modu Yuraim,
however told journalists that they had
" performed the burial of 32 persons,
including a woman."
He added that three and not two
policemen that were among the victims,
could not be taken away by the people
for burial.
Yuraim said the attackers entered the
community at about 8pm and began to
shoot sporadically and burning even
government houses.
He added, "They set fire on the
entire village, sparing nothing. All the
houses, all the shops and government
buildings in this place were razed down.
We are devastated."
When one of our correspondents
contacted the spokesman for the 7th
Infantry Division of the Nigerian Army,
Col. Mohammed Dole, he said he did
not have the casualty figure and would
not make any further comment.
He said, "We do not have the exact
figure of casualties. Whether I give it or
I don't give, there are people who have
their sources there; they can just give
their own figure.
"We decided with the Commissioner of
Police not to give any casualty figure.
You people are only interested in
casualty figure. People can just quote
any figure and that is it; they have their
sources on the ground."
When asked if the soldiers' camp in
Mafa was indeed burnt, Dole said, "The
incident was shown on the Nigerian
Television Authority news now."
The state Police Commissioner, Lawan
Tanko, confirmed the latest attack but
said he had no details of casualties.
About 20 people were killed when the
military launched an air raid on Daglun
village, also in the troubled Maiduguri
on Friday night.
However, the Defence Headquarters
denied the allegation, saying it was "
part of the design by those bent on
discrediting the counter-terrorist
mission" of the military.
Its spokesman, Chris Olukolade, told
the Agence France Presse that the
military had killed a number of Boko
Haram fighters in an operation on
Sunday evening, including those
believed to have killed pupils in a
Federal Government College in Yobe
State
He added that some insurgents
suspected to have been involved in the
Maiduguri twin bombings had been
arrested
The PUNCH learnt from a military
source on Monday that many fanatics
from West and East African countries
were part of the killings in the North-
East.
The source claimed that some of the
insurgents killed in action had
features that clearly showed that they
were not Nigerians.
He said that there was the feeling in
security circles that the foreign fighters
joined forces with Boko Haram
because of the role Nigeria played in
dislodging Islamic militants from
Northern Mali.
One of our correspondents learnt that a
Cameroonian and a Malian suspected
to be members of the Boko Haram
sect were currently in the custody of
the Special Task Force in Plateau State.
The Spokesman for the STF in Plateau,
Capt. Salishu Mustapha, who confirmed
their arrest, said they were in their
early 30s.
Meanwhile, a group, Women Arise, will
on Thursday lead women on a peaceful
walk to mourn the massacre of 53
schoolchildren in Yobe State and the
abduction of female pupils by Boko
Haram terrorists.
The President of the group, Dr. Joe
Okei-Odumakin, said in a statement
that the walk would take place
simultaneously in Abuja, Lagos, Port
Harcourt and Benin.
Okei-Odumakin said, "Women are
having a peaceful walk to mourn all the
killings happening in the northern part
of our country Nigeria, especially the
recent slaughter of our children in Yobe
state, the indiscriminate killing of people
in other parts of the north and the
abduction of our young ladies.
"Running commentaries in the social
media and praying in our closets are
not enough. We are calling on the
government to intervene before we
lose more of our future generations.
This matter concerns us all; whether you
come from the North, South, East or
West, we are all Nigerians."
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