Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kill eight teachers, 11others in fresh Borno attacks

The Boko Haram gunmen seem to be living out the threats by their leader, Abubakar Shekau, days after the Giwa Barracks attack

Gunmen believed to be members of the extremist Boko Haram sect on Thursday and Friday staged several attacks on Borno towns and villages, killing of at least 19 persons, including eight teachers, eyewitnesses and security operatives said.

Since the ill-fated Giwa Barracks attacks that led to the deaths of at least 500 persons in Maiduguri, the Boko Haram gunmen seem to be living out the threats by their leader, Abubakar Shekau, days after by killing more people and inflicting pains on hapless communities.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the gunmen, who witnesses said went from one village to the other may have killed more people than reported, as news of some of the attacks in the remote communities seldom get to the press or security agents immediately.

On Thursday, at about noon, some of the gunmen attacked Kala-Balge village, located some 180km away from Maiduguri, where they shot sporadically, burnt houses and killed at least three villagers while others had to flee with various injuries.

A senior official of the SSS confirmed the Kala-Balge attack to PREMIUM TIMES.

On the night of Thursday, the gunmen invaded Dikwa town, 83km away from Maiduguri and attacked a Teachers College there where they killed eight teachers and allegedly fled with some women.

A resident of Dikwa, who works with the local government, Abba Gonimi, told journalists that “we could not sleep at night as all we were hearing was gunshots and we became afraid and had to sneak in the dark for Maiduguri. We were not sure of who and who they were attacking but most of the shooting was coming from the school area, It was later some of our relatives who did not run far away from the village called and informed us that they have attacked a boarding school and had killed eight teachers there; some of the women in the college were also missing”.

In a related ugly development, about eight travellers were were blocked and slaughtered by another detachment of the Boko Haram gunmen who operated along the dangerous Biu-Maiduguri highway that bothers the dreaded Sambisa forest.

Some lucky travellers, who claim to have seen the scene of the attack, were in tears when they related the incident to journalists in Maiduguri.

One of the travellers, a female who does not want to be named, said “it was a very sorry sight; there was blood everywhere; human bodies were butchered like that of animals. I have heard of people being slaughtered but I have never witness such until today (Friday)”.

The remains of the victims are yet to be brought to any of the hospitals in Maiduguri as at the time of filing this report.