– Boko Haram’s latest attack has stirred a new debate on President Buhari’s war against insurgency
– Claims of children being burnt alive and an alleged downplaying of the death toll has caused and outcry.
Initial reports
After what some would have termed as a short break from terror, the insurgents based in the north east of Nigeria, resumed their pillaging of villages within the region. Over the weekend, the jihadist group- Boko Haram, attacked a Dalori village in Borno state.
The last that was heard of the Islamist-group was the beheading of a 23-year-old displaced person in Maiduguri, the state capital. One would easily have thought that the long silence and the reduction in the sect’s activities was a clear indications that the sect had at last been ousted, or rendered incapable to carryout any attack of very high casualty figures.
However, on Saturday, January 30, the sect attacked again, besieging two villages in Maiduguri.
Destruction wrought by Boko Haram
The Nigerian troops reportedly engaged the terrorists in a very tough battlecharacterized by explosions and guffaw. Dalori and Walonri villages served as the battle field where initial reports suggested that about 86 people.
The attack on Saturday came just few hours after reports had suggested that a teen about 12 years old, launched a suicide attack, killing 20 people at Gombi in Adamawa state.
Claims and counter-claims
There was a cloudy of uncertainty dangling over the casualty figures, as the details of the face-off could not be ascertained instantly.
Mohammed Kanar, area coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told the Associated Press news agency that 86 bodies had been collected by Sunday afternoon. However, latter reports suggested that more than 100 people were killed by the terrorists.
Abba Musa of the State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri, said about 62 people are being treated for various degrees of burns.
Scene from Boko Haram’s attack
How the brutal attack was launched
According to the Nigerian army, the insurgents launched the attack using different methods. The terrorists who reportedly came in two Golf cars, and motorcycles, firebombing huts and opening fire on civilians in Dalori; leaving bullet-ridden and charred bodies laying across the streets.
The gunmen also tried to storm a camp close to Dalori, home to some 25,000 refugees, but were repelled by Nigerian troops.
Soldiers said the troops were initially unable to fight off the attackers, and Boko Haram fighters only retreated after reinforcements arrived with heavier weaponry, soldiers said.
“As they saw the flames of the fight, then they alerted us. I informed the soldiers … and that’s how they checked,” Lawana Geti, head of a local vigilante group called Kondugua, said. Adding: “And when the soldiers were coming, Boko Haram rushed out of the village.”
Victim of Boko Haram attack in the northeast.
Further stories of gore
A survivor hidden in a tree told AP that he watched while the extremists firebomb huts, adding that he heard the screams of children burning to death.
According to another survivor- Alamin Bakura , the shooting, burning and explosions from three suicide bombers continued for nearly four hours in the unprotected area.
The violence continued as three female suicide bombers blew themselves up among people who managed to flee to neighboring Gamori village, killing many people.
Nigerian troops engaged Boko Haam in the sect’s bid to attack an IDP camp in Borno state.
Controversies and matters arising
Survivors from carnage complained to pressmen, that it had taken too long for help to arrive from nearby Maiduguri, the military headquarters of the fight to curb the attack. Adding that they fear another attack might occur soon.
The claims by the residents raise eyebrows regarding the preparedness of the army to react swiftly into action in time of an emergency of this nature.
It also calls for a second look at the information being fed to the Nigerian people regarding progress in the war against insurgency, as some have said that the All Progressives Congress (APC)- led government through its machinery’s have decided to distract Nigerians with something to talk about instead of holding them accountable for the loss of lives in Dalori and their insensitivity to human lives.
Some social commentators and political analyst are of the opinion that it is a shame that “the federal government up till this very moment is finding it difficult to make a press statement concerning the Dalori massacre.” The argue that it is disheartening and shameful to know that though the military command and control centre and the military heads were moved to Maiduguri, Boko Haram still kills people right beneath their nose.
But President Buhari has claimed the attacks are in response to the Nigerian military’s successful efforts in combating Boko Haram and are in fact a sign of weakness, as they (the jihadists) can only target vulnerable groups and locations. In response to the latest spate of attacks by the jihadists, the president said the sect has become so desperate to embarrass the government, adding that if the citizens to own the war against terror, then the fight will be over in due course.
Another issue emerging from the recent Boko Haram attack is the issue of disguise. The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) recently warned Nigerians that Boko Haram terrorists are now using a new tactic in launching successful suicide bombings in the country.
According Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar, the DHQ spokesperson, the militants have now switched to disguising as mad people to infiltrate locations. Following the statement, concerned citizens have queried if the reports of Cameroonian troops invading the Borno villages could also be a matter of disguise.
It would be recalled that there have been strings of reports alleging that Cameroonian soldiers in their bid to win the war against Boko Haram were killing civilians and burning Nigerian villages in the border region.
About a week ago, villagers reported that an entire family was reportedly killedafter Cameroonian soldiers hunting the gunmen indiscriminately fired on civilians.
At least 40 villagers in Gwadale border community in Gwoza local government area of Borno state were allegedly killed on Monday, January 25, by Cameroonian soldiers. Witnesses say bullets from shootings by Cameroonian troops killed many innocent people, while the troops claimed they were chasing suspected members of the Boko Haram sect.
The government of Cameroon has however, denied that its soldiers have been deliberately killing dozens of Nigerian civilians in cross-border raids while pursuing the extremists into Nigeria, hence prompting the question if by any chance the insurgents are beginning to operate under the guise that they are Cameroonian soldiers?
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), said it had destroyed the terrorists’ leadership hideouts and logistics support bases, stressing that Boko Haram has been attacking soft targets, increasingly with suicide bombers, since the military last year drove them out of towns and villages in northeastern Nigeria. The reports comes, following statements that NAF has intensified surveillance to find the abducted Chibok girls and other captives held by Boko Haram in Sambisa forest.
The 6-year Islamic uprising in the northeast, has killed about 20,000 people and driven 2.5 million from their homes. Nigerians continue to look forward with hope of a desired change, even as thousands of Nigerians who fled the country due to Boko Haram attacks have begun their return from Cameroon.
Meanwhile, reports from the early hours of Monday, February 1, suggests that a twin blast has hit Maiduguri again.
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