Over 60 persons have been killed by Boko Haram fighters in Kukuwa – Gari in Gulani Local Government Area of Yobe State.
Speaking to our correspondent on the telephone on Tuesday, the spokesman for the Yobe State Police Command, Mr. Toyin Gbadegesin, confirmed the attack. But he did not give the casualty figure.
He said, “I can confirm that there was an attack at Kukuwa village and the police and other security operatives were able to repel the Boko Haram attackers. We are not aware of the high death toll.”
But a member of the local vigilance group, Abubakar Aliyu, told our correspondent that over 60 people lost their lives in the attack.
He said most of the victims were shot dead by the sect fighters, while some drowned in a river while they were fleeing from their attackers.
He said, “Most of the villagers were drowned in the river which was flooded by the downpour while others were shot dead by the terrorists. The terrorists invaded Kukuwa-Gari village and its environs on motorcycles and trucks and started shooting at every possible target.
“Some of us in the local vigilance group and some security officials could not withstand the Boko Haram terrorists’ firepower as they were over 50 and were heavily armed.”
Aliyu said they were forced to go into hiding and when they finally came out they counted 60 corpses, adding that most the victims were found at the river bank.
Another resident of the area, Kashim Mohammed, who narrowly escaped being killed in the attack, said the death toll had risen beyond 60, insisting that many more corpses were seen at the river bank after the initial count on Friday.
He said, “I was able to hide in the bush for two days, when I came out, many dead bodies which is far more than 60 were seen close to the river bank. Most of us could not communicate with people in Damaturu, the state capital, because telecommunication masks have been blown off by the insurgents.”
Yobe State had suffered a series of attacks from insurgents in the past and President Muhammadu Buhari had given a new charge to the military to end insurgency in three months.
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