Boko Haram: More Than 100 Buried After Attacks

Over 100 bodies have been buried in Borno State, days after a Boko Haram attack in the state, as search continues for more victims of the attacks, local leaders said Monday.

According to Lawan Abba Kaka and John Gulla, from Attagara in Borno state, nearly 110 people have now been interred after Islamist militant fighters stormed the village and three others on Tuesday and Wednesday last week.

Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South in the Senate said burials had taken place in nine villages: 42 in Attagara, 24 in Aganjara and 20 in Agapalwa.

“From what those who fled told us, there are more corpses in nearby bushes and the mountainside,” he told reporters after a meeting in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri.

“Many people that fled the communities are also trapped on the hills, as they are without food or water,” Ndume said.

Peter Biye, who represents Gwoza at the Federal House of Representatives, last week described the bloodshed as “massive” but said exact numbers of dead were impossible to compile because the insurgents were still in the area and locals had fled.

Asabe Vilita, a Gwoza local government leader who is also Borno commissioner for commerce and investment, said 1,290 people were displaced by the violence and many had come to Maiduguri.

Three camps have since been set up and local political and religious leaders in the affected areas were working with the military to ensure that those who fled can return when it is safe.

The villages were a mix of Christian and Muslim communities and Ndume said they had longed lived peacefully together.

“They may have their disagreements but the latest attacks were perpetrated by Boko Haram. It is sad because our people were mercilessly murdered and many houses razed,” he added.