May 4, 2013
In what appears the most daring of the sect’s moves on Borno State yet, gunmen in a convoy of about 50 Toyota Hilux vans Thursday evening stormed the headquarters of Marte Local Government Area of the state, where they burnt down public buildings, including schools, hospitals/clinics, police stations and telecommunications masts.
Marte is about 150 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital, and also shares borders with Baga and Chad Republic, an epicentre of the sect’s activities.
A top police officer and some residents of Marte told Saturday Tribune that the gunmen invaded the town at about 4 p.m. wielding sophisticated weapons and chanting Allahu Abkar! (God is great!) as they lobbed Improvised Explosive Devises (IEDs) at the public structures.
According to a reliable source, “apart from the Lake Chad Development site, no other public structure remains standing in the town; all of them have been destroyed by the terrorists.”
Saturday Tribune gathered that the terrorists had, shortly after the Baga carnage, issued a warning letter to the Marte that the town would be their next target of attack.
Alhaji Kachallah Umara, the Dikwa Local Government secretary, was killed on Thursday at his residence at the Gomari Ward, Maiduguri, around 7 p.m.
Saturday Tribune gathered that four gunmen entered Umara’s residence and requested to see him. When they could not get him, they left temporarily only to return to the house when they saw one of his wives entering the house. They then forced their way in.
“We heard gunshots and then the women started wailing. We waited in our houses until we were certain that it was safe to go out,” a source told Saturday Tribune.
He said after the gunmen shot Umara several times, they took off, then the people alerted security operatives who came and took the corpse to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH).
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Source: Tribune