•Hundreds killed as troops retake Michika
•Catholics: we’ve lost 154 parishes
Boko Haram militants yesterday killed seven people in Ngamdu, Borno State in an overnight raid.
Residents and an official said reports indicated that the victims were beheaded in a revenge attack by the sect, which suffered some reverses recently.
Borno, along with Adamawa and Yobe states, under a state of emergency, have been hardest hit by the five-year-old insurgency.
When locals woke up, they discovered “seven people had been brutally killed”, said resident Musa Abor, according to French News Agency (AFP)
The gunmen “slit their (victims’) throats just the way people slaughter goats”, he added.
Abor and a Borno State official, who asked that his name be withheld, said the bodies had been decapitated, in the latest act of gruesome violence blamed on the Islamists who have killed more than 10,000 people since 2009.
In recent months, Boko Haram insurgents have targeted reprisal attacks at locals who have fought alongside the military as vigilantes.
An army officer in Borno, who also requested for anonymity, said 15 Boko Haram fighters were killed in clashes in Ngamdu two weeks ago and the group had vowed revenge against the community.
Those killed yesterday could not immediately be identified as vigilantes and the Defence Headquarters was not available to comment on the attack or the alleged beheadings.
The violence came as Muslims marked the Eid al-Adha festival.
The militants are thought to be in control of more than two dozen towns and villages in the northeast, but the military has vowed to retake all lost ground as part of a continuing offensive.
The military imposed a travel ban across Borno and neighbouring Yobe State to last through the Eid holiday to guard against insurgent attacks.
But the measure is almost impossible to enforce in the remote region, where analysts say the army does not have enough troops on the ground to patrol a vast area with a terrible road network and poor mobile phone coverage.
Also yesterday, the Catholic Church claimed that its 154 parishes have been lost to the insurgents.
Stating that at least three local government areas in Borno and Adamawa states are completely under the control of Boko Haram, the Director of Social Communication, Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri, Rev. Fr. Gideon Obasogie, in a statement titled: “While our people perish” said: ”As a church, we are really going through a severe moment of persecution. The ecclesial circumscription is facing sharp disintegration. In the last few weeks our churches, numbering 154, have been deserted” as the insurgents hold sway.
“ While our people perish in action or rather slow action is what we get. Political activities in neighbouring communities were ongoing as though nothing were at stake. The seemingly not so much-talked about syndicate would someday be a yoke on all.
“Lately, three local government areas of Bama in Borno State and Madagali/Michika in Adamawa State and their local government chairmen were all sacked. The Shehus and Emirs (un-throned)- or overturned. This amounts to what I would rather refer to as (cultural coup), since unknown figures have been placed in such capacities. Thousands displaced, many killed and others forcibly conscripted. These are pointers that Boko Haram terrorism is not just a northern problem, but a Nigerian problem and, in fact, a global issue.
“Nigerians, who were supposed to celebrate their independence as a free nation, were rather counting their losses and regrets as they have been reduced to the status of Internally Displaced Persons.
“Where is the freedom? Life is really terribly difficult. We are waiting eagerly to go back home, even as it is obvious that we are going to reconstruct our looted and burnt houses and ecclesial structures. We have been sacked for months, sleeping in uncompleted buildings, camps and school premises. We have been absorbed into houses of relations and friends in sixties and seventies.”
Hundreds of insurgents were reportedly killed yesterday in a fierce battle for Michika, one of Adamawa’s towns in the grip of Boko Haram.
Troops have been battling to recapture territories captured by the insurgents in Adamawa’s northern zone.
Reports indicated that over 100 insurgents were killed as they beat a retreat when troops launched attack on them. But the reports could not be independently confirmed.
Sources said troops entered Michika from Bazza, which also fell yesterday. The two towns have been held b y the terrorists for at least one month.
It was not clear yesterday if troops would also advance to take back Shuwa as the battle was said to be intense.
“The troops have gained entry into Michika and are now fully in control of the town, having dealt a severe blow on the insurgents who lost about 100 members. Many escaped with injuries sustained from gun shots,” a security source said.
The source added that the troops were getting a stiff resistance from the insurgents as they consolidated on the town leading to a prolonged gun duel.
“There is a heavy fighting going on between the insurgents and troops. Many people are trapped,” the source said.
The source, however, added that the insurgents returned fire as they came back through Uba to attack the troops in an ambush. He said some soldiers might have died.
‘’ The gallant soldiers were attacked from behind but they engaged them in a fierce battle for over five hours.”
The spokesman of the 23rd Army Brigade in Yola could not be reached for comments on the Michika battle.
