When the governor of Borno State, who is on ground and knows what is going on in his state, said those who have been recruited by the Boko Haram are better armed and motivated than the Nigerian Army, people like Doyin Okupe who haven’t been to Borno since the killings started insulted the governor.
But the picture is now getting clearer. The killings extended to Adamawa State where Boko Haram terrorists armed with rocket-propelled grenades nearly sacked four communities and operated with impunity.
“When the soldiers at the military checkpoints saw the number of the attackers, they retreated into the nearby bushes as the gunmen operated without challenge during the operation that lasted throughout the night.”
Death toll in the attack is put at 37. On Tuesday it was Yobe State where 59 schoolchildren were massacred.
In Adamawa attack, banks, shops, a local government secretariat and houses were said to have been looted and burnt during the six-hour simultaneous raids on the three communities – Michika, Gulak , Shuwa and Krichinga – by the deadly militants.
In Shuwa, Madagali Local Government Area, a repeat of the Yobe massacre was averted when the insurgents attacked the Christians Teacher College, Christian Secondary School and a Catholic Convent.
Sources say the head of the Christian Secondary School, on hearing gunshots in the community, advised all his pupils to run into nearby bushes to avoid being killed by the terrorists. When the hoodlums eventually arrived and saw the school deserted, they burnt down almost all the structures on the premises.
Unfortunately, among the over 20 persons killed in Shuwa, was a priest at St. Augustine Catholic Church. The home of a former commissioner in the state, Idris Nuhu, is also among those burnt in the community.
A resident, who identified himself simply as Fide, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, that the attackers arrived in nine vans, firing guns and throwing explosives indiscriminately.
A furious governor of the state Gov. Murtala Nyako suggested there must be collusion with the Boko Haram terrorist network. Nyako, a former navy chief of staff, said the attacks ridiculed President Goodluck Jonathan’s insistence that the military is winning the war against Islamic militants.
