Maina Maina
Suspected members of dreaded Boko Haram sect on Saturday evening invaded Shani, the Local Government Council Headquarters of Shani, in Borno state and opened fire at innocent residents, killing scores of people, with many injured.
Report available to DAILY POST says thousands of residents have fled into the bush for safety.
Shani South shares its borders with some Adamawa state communities and about 260 kilometres drive from Maiduguri the state capital.
This is the third time Shani came under deadly attacks. The first was a day to the 2011 general elections where some gunmen suspected to be terrorists attacked some Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) adhoc staff, killing some of them with the destruction of electoral materials and a police station.
Also in June, 2014, the town of Shani witnessed a destructive attack by some terrorists which led to the burning down of the Divisional Police Headquarters, while some few people lost their lives.
Fleeing Residents of Shani who did not want their names mentioned in print for security reasons told our Correspondent thus: ” some group of insurgents invaded the town at about 8pm on Saturday and started shooting sporadically, targeting civilians, public buildings and recreational centres.
“They came on about 10 motorcycles from Gwaskara axis, well armed with Ak47 rifles, Improvised Explosive Devices and petrol bombs, wrecking havoc without confrontation as there was no military operatives, nor police to assist the armless civilians who were running for dear lives.
” As I am talking to you now, I left my people running towards Pakaina village for safety. It is only God that will know what is happening with the sporadic gunshots that engulfed the entire council area”. Mallam Babayo Ardo told our Correspondent on phone.
All effort to get confirmation from the Police Public Relations Officer at press time, DSP Gideon Jubrin proved abortive as his cell phones were switched off, but a reliable security source who is not authorised to talk to the press confirmed the latest attack on Shani by insurgents on Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, another attack at Lassa town of Askira/Uba local government council left six persons dead with Churches and many houses burnt down by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
The attack according to reports from Lassa was resisted by the villagers who engaged the attackers with locally made riffles, bow and arrows, while the sect members were said to have come with all sorts of modern weapons.
Ali Mamza, a resident of Lassa town and member of the local vigilante group in the famous community told our correspondent that, the vigilante refused the villagers from fleeing the town, encouraging them to stand and fight together.
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“If we flee today, tomorrow, we will continue to flee and these murderer would continue to kill. If we had fled, they would have killed many people. I think our decision to fight yielded result as it is better that six people are killed than for hundred to be killed. We will continue to encourage ourselves, because they will keep coming. We cannot run any longer.” He said.
