Dozens of traders at a rural market in Borno State are feared dead and several others injured during an attack by Boko Haram members in the afternoon of Friday, September 19, 2014, eyewitnesses and security operatives have said.
According to witnesses, the gunmen, in their dozens attacked Mainok Village market in Kaga local government, at exactly 1:30pm desperately carting away food items and money from traders.
Mainok Village, which is about 60km away from Maiduguri, has suffered several attacks, especially by Boko Haram gunmen who normally attack it on market days.
An eyewitness, Alloy Ikechukwu, who was travelling through the village as the attack was on told newsmen in Maiduguri that he say the insurgents shooting sporadically and people fleeing the market, some falling and bleeding.
“I boarded a luxury bus from Lagos and as soon as we arrived Mainok at exactly 1.30pm, we heard heavy gunshots from the western part of the market and sporadic gunshots followed. Hundreds of traders and residents fled the market in confusion, running to cross the highway to the other side while vehicles passing through the town were also making attempts to flee the town. It was such a confusion,” he said.
“Many people may have been killed, judging from the way the insurgents were shooting at the crowd,” he said. He also said many of the fleeing villagers were hit by vehicles speeding away from the area. He said he saw them falling and bleeding. “Vehicles were hitting one another and the Boko Haram kept shooting,” he added.
A senior security operative who also witnessed the attack said: “The attackers first fired rapid propelled grenade into the middle of the market before they started firing into the midst of the confused traders,” he said.
“The death toll may be high, because there were many people in the market and the amount of shooting that we heard before we began to flee would certainly affect many people,” he said.
Security officials are yet to officially comment on the attack.
