A fresh wave of violence that swept through Borno State has claimed scores of lives and resulted in the destruction of public buildings and a divisional police station.
The tragedy occurred as gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram’s members in a convoy of Toyota Hilux vehicles and motorcycles attacked Shani town on Saturday night.
Shani is a council headquarters bordering Adamawa State, and 260 kilometres south of Maiduguri, the state capital.
The gunmen also attacked the emir’s palace and snatched three Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) and Toyota Hilux vehicles at the council’s official lodge.
In a telephone interview in Maiduguri yesterday, a resident who survived the attacks said that the gunmen caught the residents unawares when over three dozens of them attacked the town shooting sporadically at any person in sight, before setting ablaze public buildings and the police station, two kilometers from the central market.
“I was very lucky; it was God that saved my life that Saturday night, because many of my neighbours and colleagues were shot dead, while several residents fled into farmlands and bushes with gunshot wounds. Some of them may die in the bush, as insurgents on motorcycles pursued the fleeing residents that night,” said the resident on how Shani was attacked.
He said Saturday’s attack brought to three times that the insurgents torched the police station and office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the council’s comprehensive health care centre along with several houses and shops this year.
On how Shani was attacked, he said: “They came on about a dozen motorcycles from Gwaskara axis well armed with Ak47 rifles, Improvised
Explosive Devices (IEDs) and petrol-bombs wreaking havoc without being confronted by anybody as there were neither military operatives nor police to assist the civilians who were fleeing for their dear lives.
“As I am talking to you now, I left my people running towards Pakaina village for safety; it is only God that will know what is happening with the sporadic gunshots that engulfed the entire council area.”
All efforts to get confirmation from the state Police Public Relations Officer, Gideon Jibrin, were however futile, as he could not be reached through his cell phone.
But a military source who was not authorised to speak said there was an attack on Shani by suspected insurgents in southern Borno at the weekend. The Guardian
