A FRESH wave of violence swept through Borno State Wednesday

 
A FRESH wave of violence swept through Borno State Wednesday, leaving scores of residents dead.
  The perpetrators of the mayhem who were in 56 Toyota Hilux and pickup trucks and motorcycles attacked Bama town and destroyed  many houses and 16 vehicles in the early hours of Wednesday.
  According to an eyewitness, Ba Modu Bulama, the gunmen came in various vehicles with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and petrol-bombs in the morning and started shooting sporadically at houses, while chanting “God is great” in Arabic language for over six hours.

  Meanwhile, disturbed at the incessant invasion of Benue villages by suspected Fulani herdsmen, Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, has appealed to the Federal Government to urgently address the crisis before it degenerates to a full scale tribal war.
    The eyewitness said the insurgents who were around 150 continued to attack and shoot at any house right from the Shehu’s palace down to the motor park. He disclosed that at least 15 vehicles and the market by the park were set ablaze.
  “Most of us were sleeping when the Boko Haram gunmen attacked; some of my neighbours were slain in their houses by slitting their throats after tying their hands to the backs. Some of the women and children cried for help, but were also killed in the early hours today (Wednesday).
  “Seven of my neighbours and their children scaled the walls and fled into the bush through the Tandari route for safety. But I can tell you that the number of people killed in this co-ordinated dawn attacks is high. It is in the evening today or tomorrow that the exact number of casualties could be ascertained by soldiers and police for burial,” he said.
  He said the entire old Bama houses, shops and the motor park were destroyed in yesterday’s attacks that lasted for over six hours.
  “The surviving residents fled towards Maiduguri and Gwoza roads for safety; and eventually some of them took refuge at Ngurosoye, 10 kilometres from the town.
  The Borno Police Commissioner, Tanko Lawal, in a short message to The Guardian also confirmed yesterday’s multiple attacks.
  Lawal said: “I am aware of the attacks, but waiting for details from the officers on ground; since operation is still going on please.”
  Senator Ahmed Zannah, representing Borno Central Senatorial District in a telephone interview yesterday said that the attacks on Bama in Borno State had claimed the lives of several residents, including women and children in their houses.
  Speaking on how Bama was attacked and the casualty level, Zannah said: “The reports that I have been receiving from some of the surviving residents indicated that the old Bama has been completely razed down by suspected insurgents right from Shehu of Bama’s palace down to the junction, the barracks and hospital at the northern part of the township. Several people were killed in their houses, by either the insurgents’ bullets or slitting their throats, after tying their hands to their backs.”
  Asked on how many people were killed, he said: “I cannot tell you the exact number of people killed in today’s attacks in Bama, but it is certain that two personalities that I know were also slain in their houses today. The other reports I received this afternoon indicated that many other residents were also slain either in their houses or mosques praying. The surviving residents fled into various directions for safety in the morning, while some of the houses and the motor park are still burning.
  “What Governor Kashim Shettima was saying on the capacity of the military and Boko Haram insurgency in Borno State, was true; and I do not doubt the governor’s verdict on this insurgency in the state and the North-East sub-region of this country.”
      Speaking with newsmen at the Government House yesterday, Suswam lamented that the Fulani mercenaries have continued to wreck havoc on his people despite several efforts by his administration to foster peace with the herdsmen.
   He noted that the average Fulani man now goes about with AK47, and that if the situation is not quickly addressed, indigenes might be forced to defend themselves.
   “Yesterday morning, Fulanis numbering over 700 attacked and destroyed the Tor Tiv’s village house. For them to have targeted the Tor Tiv’s house is an affront and totally unacceptable,” he said. “I have been trying since yesterday to control the situation because emotions have risen.”
   Consequently, “our people have congenially been displaced from their homes by these Fulani herders on a daily basis. Some of our children have not been to school in the last two years because they have been displaced. If the situation is not quickly addressed, I fear that it may result into a tribal war soon.”