- Boko Haram Islamists have abducted 22 girls and women in two separate raids
- The first attack occurred on Thursday, in the village of Pulka near border with Cameroon
- The insurgents raided the village where they kidnapped 18 girls
- In second incident outside the village of Dumba, the jihadists killed a herdsman
- A resident who confirmed the raid said the girls were likely to end up as brides for the fighter
- 12 people were killed in multiple Boko Haram attacks on Wumyeduga village
No fewer than 22 girls and women have been kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents in two separate raids in north-east Nigeria, residents and vigilantes said.
UK Guardian reports that 18 girls were kidnapped in the first attack on Thursday, March 30, as the Islamist sect raided the village of Pulka near the border with Cameroon.
In the first attack, the Boko Haram sect raided the village of Pulka near border with Cameroon. Pictured are some Chibok girls who were released by Boko Haram in October 2016
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A Pulka community leader who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals said: “Boko Haram fighters from Mamman Nur camp arrived in pickup vans around 6am and seized 14 young girls aged 17 and below while residents fled into the bush.
“They picked four other girls who were fleeing the raid they came across in the bush outside the village.”
The official disclosed that the insurgents who abducted the girls were loyal to the faction headed by Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, the son of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf.
NAIJ.com recalls that Barnawi was appointed last year by Isis to replace Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the dreaded sect who had pledged allegiance to the jihadist group in 2015. Barnawi was promoted after Shekau had been criticised for mass killings and suicide attacks against civilians.
Boko Haram insurgents from Mamman Nur camp arrived in pickup vans around 6am and seized 14 young girls aged 17 and below
Another resident confirmed the raid and said the girls were likely to end up as brides for the fighters. “They didn’t harm anyone during the raid and they made no attempt to shoot people running away from the village,” said the resident.
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Adamu Ahmed, a member of an anti-Boko Haram militia said in the second incident outside the village of Dumba, close to Lake Chad, the insurgents killed a herdsman who had tried to escape after refusing to pay protection money.
“When the Boko Haram gunmen came for the money they realised he had left with everything and they decided to go after him on their motorcycles.
“They caught up with him near Dumba where they slaughtered him and shot dead 50 of his cattle,” Ahmed said.
A member of the Civilian JTF in Borno state, Umar Modu, disclosed that 12 people were killed in multiple Boko Haram attacks on Wumyeduga village, near Damboa town about 7.45pm on Thursday., Guardian reports.
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According to Modu, 23 people were also injured in the multiple attacks, which involved the detonation of explosives by a suspected female suicide bomber at the village’s cemetery.
“While the surviving villagers were burying the killed ones, a female suicide bomber also blew up herself in the midst of mourners, killing five and wounding of several others,” Modu disclosed.
Pictured are some released Chibok girls reuniting with their families after years in Boko Haram captivity
The injured were said to have been evacuated to the Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri for treatment.
Similarly, the terrorist group ambushed Dangote trucks, killing three persons, including two drivers, and injuring three others at Kubuwa village, along Biu-Damboa road on Thursday, March 30.
“The insurgents ambushed Dangote trucks conveying sugar, salt and floors about 10am and killed the drivers and a civilian JTF member, while three persons sustained various degree of injuries,” Hassan Biu, a member of vigilante said.
