At least 140 people have been killed in two separate attacks by Boko Haram terrorists just outside of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, security sources have told SaharaReporters.
According to one source, the first Boko Haram attack targeted the remote village of Musara, located in the Monguno Local Government Area (LGA), which had recently been liberated by the Nigerian military.
Monguno is located about 148 kilometers from Maiduguri.
Boko Haram rode in dozens of vehicles and stormed Musara during the night at about 8pm. More than 47 people in Musara village near Monguno were killed.
A lawmaker who represents Monguno at the Federal House of Representatives, the Hon. Mohammed, also confirmed the attack in a telephone interview from Maiduguri.
Victim injured by Boko Haram terrorist attack said second attack targeted Kukawa town, also in Borno State, where at least 100 people were murdered according to local residents.
They shot indiscriminately at the worshipers at the local mosque, according to a resident.
Boko Haram later set the houses of many people on fire. One of our colleagues who escaped the attack said they've recovered 97 dead bodies, some of them burnt beyond recognition.
A female suicide bomber killed seven and injured 13 at a village called Malari on the main road from Bama to Konduga while a second suicide bomber killed three in blast along the same road, Borno state police chief Aderemi Opadokun said.
A military source said in both cases the suicide bombers targeted crowded areas where locals sell fruit along the highway, which runs southeast of the state capital Maiduguri.
Thousands of people have been killed and about 1.5 million displaced during Boko Haram's six-year fight to create an Islamic caliphate in the northeast of Africa's top oil producer.
Boko Haram controlled a huge area at the end of 2014 before a military offensive seized much of the territory in the first few months of this year.
The militants have since mostly resorted to deadly hit-and-run attacks on remote villages and the use of suicide bombers.
Boko Haram attacked the town of Kukawa not far from Lake Chad on Wednesday evening. The attackers killed many and burned down houses.
The state police chief did not give a death toll from the attack but eyewitnesses said at least eight injured residents from Kakuawa had been treated at a Maiduguri hospital.
Maiduguri, also called Yerwa by its locals,is the capital and the largest city of Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria. The city sits along the seasonal Ngadda River which disappears into the Firki swamps in the areas around Lake Chad.Maiduguri was founded in 1907 as a military outpost by the British and has since grown rapidly with a population exceeding a million by 2007.
The region was home to the Kanem-Bornu Empire for centuries. Maiduguri actually consists of two cities: Yerwa to the West and Old Maiduwuri to the east. Old Maiduwuri was selected by the British as their military headquarters while Yerwa was selected at approximately the same time by Shehu Abubakar Garbai of Borno to replace Kukawa as the new traditional capital of the Kanuri people.
Maiduguri is one of the sixteen LGAs that constitute the Borno Emirate, a traditional state located in Borno State, Nigeria.
Maiduguri is estimated to have a population of 1,197,497 as of 2007. Its residents are mostly Muslim including Kanuri, Hausa, Shuwa, Bura, Marghi, and Fulani ethnic groups. There is also a considerable Christian population.
Maiduguri is home to three markets which include an ultra modern "Monday market" that has a spectacular satellite image view. There is an ancient museum, and the city is served by the Maiduguri International Airport.
The city has one of the best layouts in Nigeria. The values of land and properties are high. A 2009 survey of property markets in Nigeria positioned Maiduguri as the third most expensive for buying and renting in after Abuja and Lagos.
Maiduguri is the principal trading hub for northeastern Nigeria. Its economy is largely based on services and trade with a small share of manufacturing. The city lies at the end of a railway line connecting Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kafanchan, Kuru, Bauchi, and finally Maiduguri.
Maiduguri has one of the best-equipped universities and hospitals in Nigeria: The University of Maiduguri attracts foreign students from neighbouring countries especially Cameroon and Niger Republic. The College of Medical Sciences is amongst the top five best medical schools in Nigeria. Other higher institutions include Ramat Polytechnic, College of Agriculture and College of Education, and El-kanemi College of Islamic Theology.
As of 2011, the Future Prowess Islamic School provided a free, co-ed Western and Islamic education to orphans and vulnerable children.
The University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) is located in Maiduguri, a city in Borno State in northeast Nigeria. The university was created by the federal government in 1975, with the intention of its becoming one of the country's principal higher-education institutions. It enrolls about 25,000 students in its combined programs, which include a college of medicine and faculties of agriculture, arts, Dentistry, education, engineering, law, management science, Pharmacy, science, social science, and veterinary medicine. With the encouragement of the federal government, the university has recently been increasing its research efforts, particularly in the fields of agriculture and conflict resolution, and expanding the university press. The total budget is ₦1,920,660,623.11. The university is the major higher institution of learning in the north-eastern part of the country. It has a serene environment for learning, a very efficient teaching hospital.
It is home to the El-Kanemi Warriors, a football team and the city has an active local football league. The Kyarimi Park is the oldest and largest zoo in Nigeria. The zoo attracts thousands of visitors per year. The city is within a short driving distance to picnic areas in Alo Lake and Zambiza game reserve.
Several times since the mid-1960s, Maiduguri has witnessed outbreaks of large scale Muslim violence. Muslim supremacists in the region have been mass murdering non-Muslims since the 1960s and 1970s, while members of religious sects led intercomunal violence in 1982 and 2001.On 18 February 2006, riots related to the Muhammad cartoons published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten left at least 15 people dead, and resulted in the destruction of approximately 12 churches. Soldiers and police quelled the riots, and the government temporarily imposed a curfew.
Maiduguri was also the scene of major religious violence throughout Northeast Nigeria committed by an Islamist group, Boko Haram, in July 2009, leaving over 700 people dead.
On May 14, 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Northeast Nigeria, including Borno State, due to rebel activity of Boko Haram.The entire city was under overnight curfew, and trucks have been prevented from entering the city. Twelve areas of the city that are known to be strongholds of Boko Haram are under permanent curfew.On 18 June 2013, Boko Haram militants attacked a school as students were taking an exam; nine students were killed.
On January 10, 2015, a bomb attack was executed at the Monday Market in Maiduguri, killing 19 people. The city is considered to be at the heart of the Boko Haram insurgency.In the early hours of 25 January, Boko Haram launched a major assault on the city.On January 26, hundreds of gunmen had been repelled, but the nearby town of Monguno was captured by Boko Haram.The Nigerian Army claimed to have successfully repelled another attack on Maiduguri on January 31, 2015.On February 17, 2015, Monguno subsequently fell to the Nigerian military in a coordinated air and ground assault. On 7 March 2015, five suicide bomb blasts left 54 dead and 143 wounded.On May 30, 2015, Boko Haram launched another attack on the city, killing thirteen people.
No comments:
Post a Comment