No fewer than 30 people were killed on Thursday in separate attacks by Boko Haram insurgents on three villages in Marte Local Government Area of Borno State.
The latest attack brings the number of persons killed by the terrorists in the last five days across the troubled state to 98.
Most of the dead were killed during attacks on isolated villages.
Kirenowa town was the first to be attacked by the extremists. About 20 persons were killed during the attack that lasted nearly five hours.
Residents said scores of armed insurgents stormed the area around noon, shooting everyone at sight and setting houses, shops and vehicles ablaze.
“The militants, armed with sophisticated weapons, raided the area and proceeded to the major market and began sporadic shootings into the crowd, killing 20 people on the spot and burning most of the houses and shops in the town,” Mallam Goni Bukar, a resident said.
He told journalists on the telephone that the residents were taken unawares because they had not come under such an attack in a long time.
Bukar said, “Throughout the onslaught that lasted for over five hours, there was no single security operative to confront the attackers. The attackers snatched several vehicles and loaded them with bags of food before they fled.”
A traditional ruler in the community, who did not want his name mentioned, confirmed the incident, adding that over 60 houses were burnt.
He decried the absence of security operatives in the area, claiming they had alerted relevant authorities on the need to deploy troops to safeguard the community to no avail.
“Immediately after the Gamboru Ngala attack where over 300 people were killed, we urged the security agents to deploy their personnel but our appeal fell on deaf ears,” Bukar said.
Copyright PUNCH.