Even children were not spared’ – Survivor of Boko Haram attack that killed 81 speaks

The sole survivor of a Boko Haram blitz on a community in Borno State has narrated his ordeal during the siege that left at least 81 people dead and 13 injured.

In a brutal raid on Fanduma Koloram, a village in Gubio local government area of the state Tuesday, the bloodthirsty Jihadists were also said to have kidnapped seven others.

According to some of the survivor, who spoke during Governor Babagana Zulum visit to the area on Wednesday, members of the terrorist group had pretended to be Islamic religious crusaders, collected their arms and shot humans – both young and old – at point-blank range.

He said,

“The insurgents in gun trucks and armoured tanks, came around 10 am yesterday (Tuesday). They operated for about six hours and left around 4 pm. They gathered us and said they wanted to deliver a religious sermon to us. They asked us to submit whatever arm we had. Some villagers gave up their dane guns, bow and arrows. The insurgents pretended as if they were there for no violence. Suddenly, they started shooting at will. Even children and women were not spared, many were shot at close range. Many started running. At the end, many persons were killed. I have been burying people since 10:00 pm last night to about 6am this morning. We have buried 49 corpses here while another 32 corpses were taken away by families from the villages around us.

“The insurgents abducted seven persons including our village head. They went away with 400 cattle.” 

The governor, who described the attack as barbaric and unfortunate, evacuated five injured persons in his convoy for treatment at an undisclosed hospital.

“Last year, about same number of people were killed in Gajiram like it happened again. This is barbaric. It is very unfortunate. The only solution to end this massacre is by dislodging the insurgents in the shores of Lake Chad. Doing so will require collaborative regional efforts,” the governor said.

The presidency has so far remained silent on the latest bloodbath.