oko Haram killed 49 people in Nigeria and Cameroon on Wednesday and Thursday nights, but details of the massacre were just beginning to come out.
In Nigeria, the terrorists killed 27 people in attacks in six villages in northern Borno state on Wednesday and Thursday nights, while 22 people were killed in Cameroon in several villages on Thursday night. At least eight persons were abducted there while many escaped with injuries.
In both neighboring countries, several villages were set on fire and completely burnt down.
In Nigeria, online newspaper, Sahara Reporters, reported on Friday, quoting civilian and security sources, that the terrorists first stormed the remote villages of Abachari, Kote, Uda Lawanti and Wokilli, all located in the Nganzi Local Government Area of Borno State, around 9:30 p.m., and killed 15 people. Many escaped with wounds, the newspaper said.
“A source who is a civilian member of the Joint Task Force (JTF) said the besieged villagers yesterday came to the local vigilante group in Nganzi town. He said the vigilante group then mobilized its members to visit the affected villages on Friday morning, adding that the dead bodies had been brought to Nganzi for burial,” the newspaper said.
“The attacks happened in the villages on Wednesday night, but it was this morning that we brought fifteen of the corpses and buried them in Nganzi town.
“As I am speaking with you many women and children are still missing,” the newspaper quoted its source as saying.
It quoted a military source as corroborating the account. “The Boko Haram fighters burnt down the villages. They looted livestock and grains. Nothing was left in the villages. Some of the lucky ones are now taking refuge in Nganzi”.
In a related development, the suspected Boko Haram terrorists also invaded Mallam Moduri and Kijimatari, two villages in Guzamala Local Government Area, about 2 a.m. on Thursday. A security source disclosed that at least 12 persons were killed and dozens wounded in the two communities, the newspaper said.
“At least seven people lost their lives in Kijimatari village when the terrorists opened fire on the civilians who were sleeping and six others sustained various kinds of injuries,” said another security source. “Five others were killed and many wounded at Mallam Moduri village around 3 a.m.”
In Cameroon, Boko Haram terrorists assaulted West and Central African country on many fronts on Thursday night, killing more than 20 people, injuring many, kidnapping at least eight others and burning down an entire village.
The attacks on Thursday night took place in the country’s far north, where Boko Haram has been wreaking havoc since 2014.
Reliable local newspaper, L’Oeil du Sahel, said 15 people were killed by Boko Haram in Gakaara area of Kolofata in the country’s far north, and eight people were abducted there. Many houses, the newspaper added, were also set ablaze.
In another area known as Gartchono in the district of Afade, at least three people were killed also last night while two others were injured by Boko Haram, before burning down the entire village.
A suicide bomber also blew himself/herself up between Kolofata and Mount Greya, killing at least three people and dying in the process as well. There were five people injured, L’Oeil du Sahel said.
Boko Haram has been wreaking havoc in Cameroon since 2014, killing more than 2000 civilians in addition to hundreds of soldiers and policemen, in more than 500 suicide bombings and gun attacks.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes while many have been abducted.
In neighboring Nigeria, where the insurgency began in 2009, more than 25, 000 people have been killed so far by Boko Haram, and over two million others remain displaced till date in one of the world’s most severe humanitarian catastrophes.
But attacks in Cameroon and Nigeria often attract little international attention in the media. An attack in Barcelona, Spain, is often instantly given international attention by the media while hundreds of deaths in Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad, are often not even mentioned.
Worse, even Amnesty International,the human rights organisation, often discriminates against local journalists and prefers to send its reports to international organisations.
Attempts by Simon Ateba News Africa against such racist behaviors and to get those reports, quickly turned into a one-sided shouting match recently and our publisher, Simon Ateba (@simonateba) was blocked by Amnesty International representativein Cameroon.