No fewer than 80 persons were reportedly left dead on Monday, August 31, 2015 following an attack by the Boko Haram islamist sect who rode on horses to wreck havoc on three villages in already troubled Borno State.
A vigilante fighting insurgency identified as Babakura Kolo, disclosed that 68 people were killed in the attack on Baanu village in same state n the evening hours of Friday, August 28, 2015.
Residents stated that another 11 persons were shot dead in two other villages on Saturday and Sunday.
Kolo explained the insurgents invaded the village with guns around 8:30pm and shot sporadically.
He said: “Reports reached us of an attack on Baanu village late Friday where Boko Haram gunmen riding on horses opened fire on the village. Sixty-eight people were killed in the attack.”
Also, one of the residents of the Baanu village, Aisami Ari, who fled the attack to the state capital Maiduguri on Saturday, August 29, 2015 also confirmed the attack and the death toll.
He said: “The attackers came on horses around 8.30 pm and began shooting sporadically. The whole village was thrown into confusion and everybody fled. We returned after they had gone and found out they had killed 68 people in the village.
“Most of us left the village on Saturday for fear of a fresh attack.”
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a government official, placed the death toll in Baanu village at 56.
The vigilante also stressed that four people were killed in another attack by the insurgents in Karnuwa village on Saturday, August 29, 2015.
“They shot dead four people in the village, including the chief imam of the village, his son and two neighbours,” he said.
Corroborating the report, a local resident, Saleh Musa, who later fled to the nearby town of Askira Uba, said: “The attackers arrived on horseback around 2:00 pm while people were praying in the mosque. They went straight to the mosque and opened fire on worshippers.
“They killed seven people, while five others were injured. I was late for the afternoon prayers and I was at home preparing to go to the mosque and join in the prayers when the attack happened.”
Meanwhile, army spokesman in Maiduguri, Colonel Tukur Gusau, and Borno government spokesman Isa Umar Gusau said they could not immediately comment on the attacks.
