About 70 local farmers have been reportedly killed by gunmen suspected to be members of the dreaded Boko Haram terrorists group in Mafa village, Tarmuwa local government area of Yobe State.
MaidawaArewa had reported that gunmen invaded the village on Sunday evening, seting houses ablaze and killing an unspecified number of locals.
Yobe State Police Command had confirmed the attack, but couldn’t give details on the day of the invasion.
However, fresh details in the aftermath of the attack indicated that the victims’ bodies are now being collected and prepared for burial today, Tuesday, in Babbangida town, the headquarters of Tarmuwa local government area.
According to sources, the attack was carried out in retaliation for the villagers allegedly providing intelligence to the military, which had led to the killing of several insurgents last month.
Reacting to the ugly development, Audu Bulama Bukar, an advocates for Human Rights, Rule of Law, Peace and Social Justice, based in the United Kingdom, who registered his displeasure over the attack on innocent citizens, also urged the nation’s security forces to redouble their efforts to prevent a resurgence of violence in the Northeast.
“Boko Haram had issued an ultimatum on 30 August, ordering the villagers to leave.
“Despite this explicit threat, no security personnel were deployed to protect the community, leaving them utterly defenceless. Their only ‘crime’ was helping the security forces.
“It is this sense of fear of retaliation and abandonment that is discouraging communities in the affected areas from assisting the military.
“Boko Haram attacks on civilians have been on the rise recently, following a period of relative calm. If we lower our guard, Boko Haram could rebuild and return even stronger.
“We have witnessed this before and cannot afford to repeat the same mistake”, he posted on his Facebook page.
