•Troops
The corpses of 34 villagers killed by Boko Haram insurgents have been evacuated from Mafa, a town in Tamuwa Local Government Area of Yobe State.
Sources told our correspondent that the remains of the victims were moved to Babbangida General Hospital ahead of mass burial which took place by 10 am.
Yobe State Deputy Governor, Hon Idi Barde Gubana, led top government officials to attend the burial at Babbangida Emir’s palace, headquarters of Tarmuwa LG.
Sources from the affected community told our correspondent that at least 87 people were killed by the insurgents.
“We can categorically say that they killed at least 87 people. We could not show you the remains of the victims because some of them died in the bush, even the military failed to find them.”
“So far, 34 corpses are in Babbangida General Hospital after military evacuated them from the affected community while the decomposed corpses would be buried at the scene.”
Boko Haram terrorists were said to have killed many villagers, mainly farmers, and set houses and shops ablaze at Mafa.
Sources told our correspondent that the insurgents attacked the village around 4pm when residents were returning from their farms.
Last month, two persons were killed and 475 households displaced in an attack by Boko Haram which reportedly affected over 2,390 people across four communities within Mafa ward.
A source said the attack might be a retaliation against the villagers for allegedly providing information to the military, which led to the killing of several insurgents last month.
“In July, some residents provided intelligence about the terrorists’ activities to the military, which resulted in a successful operation against them. This likely angered the insurgents, leading to the recent attack,” the source said.
The spokesman of the Yobe State Police Command, Dungus Abdulkarim, confirmed the attack in a phone call with our correspondent, but noted that details were still unclear due to the network failure in the affected area.
“We cannot yet confirm the exact number of casualties, but the attack occurred around 4 p.m. in Mafa. The insurgents arrived on over 50 motorcycles, setting shops and houses on fire and killing several people. They also left behind some fliers with Arabic inscriptions,” Abdulkarim said.
Special Adviser to the Yobe State Governor on Security Matters, Brigadier-General Dahiru Abdulsalam (Rtd), also confirmed the attack.
He said military personnel had been deployed in the area and that normalcy had been restored.
Mafa village is near Shekau village, hometown of the late Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau.
