Dozens of civilians have reportedly been killed
in a fresh attack in Nigeria's northeastern
Borno State by Boko Haram, witnesses said
Sunday.
According to witnesses, over 30 Boko Haram
militants on motorcycles stormed Shani, a
predominantly Christian area, south of
Borno State on Saturday night.
"They came at about 8pm and started
shooting. The gunshots were so much that I
decided to run out of the house with my two
grown-up children but left my wife and
younger children. We hide in the bush and
proceeded toward Biu this morning," Ezekiel
Musa, an eyewitness, told The Anadolu
Agency.
He said the insurgents also set fire to houses
to force residents out and then opened fire on
fleeing residents. He disclosed that he was
unable to connect with his wife and younger
children he left behind in Shani since
Saturday night because "the Boko Haram men
destroyed the telecommunication masts in the
town."
"I saw the facilities at the base of one of the
masts on the outskirts of the town on fire as
we flee," he told AA on phone, adding that he
could make calls because he was already
approaching a village near Biu, about 189 km
from Maiduguri, Borno's provincial capital
and Boko Haram birthplace.
Shani town is sharing borders with some
Adamawa State communities and about 260
km drive from Maiduguri.
Mustapha Umar Shani, a college student, told
AA on phone that he escaped into a
community along Shani-Adamawa border but
said he feared the insurgents may still be in
Shani.
"I'm now in Pakaina village with other fleeing
residents," he disclosed.
A shopkeeper in Shani , Shuabu Lawal, said he
started hearing explosions at around 8 pm on
Saturday evening.
"A boy ran into my shop and said his father
and elder brother had been shot. He was only
wearing shorts, no top and sweating despite
the wintry weather. I shut down my shop
immediately, leaving some items outside,"
Lawal said.
A military source in Biu confirmed the attack,
adding that the insurgents burnt down a
police station and other public buildings.
Shani has been under Boko Haram fire in the
past. The Saturday invasion was the third
since 2009 when insurgency escalated in the
northeastern Borno State.
The town came under heavy attacks shortly
before the 2011 general elections as suspected
Boko Haram raided the local office of the
Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC), killed several people and destroyed
electoral materials.
The Shani Divisional Police Station was also
attacked in mid-June 2014, during which as at
least five policemen were killed.
More than 300 civilians have been killed in
coordinated attacks by Boko Haram across the
north in November alone, the latest of which
targeted a major mosque in Kano city on
Friday where over 100 worshippers were
killed.
A twin bomb explosion near a regional market
in the northeastern city of Maiduguri also
killed about 30 traders mostly women and
teenagers last Tuesday.
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