Boko Haram kills 4 IDPs Hunters

Reports state that four Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), on hunting expedition, few metres to their camp in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, were gruesomely murdered by suspected Boko Haram on motorcycles.

A close associate of one of the deceased, Sheriff Butari, said 10 men left Dalori IDPs camp to a bush behind the camp, on Saturday morning. He said the men went to fetch water in a well at Maliki village after their hunting when Boko Haram swooped on them.

“One of the victims; Babagana Lawan was my friend. We’ve been together since we fled to Maiduguri for refuge. They’ve been going to one village called Maliki for a long time at the back of Dalori camp. One can view the village right from the back of Dalori camp. They went to hunt and after that, they wanted to fetch water from the well. They have not even finished when four Boko Haram on two motorcycles appeared,” he told Daily Sun.

He said the insurgents descended on his friend; Babagana, after they slit the throats of three. “They stabbed my friends on different parts of his body. Ten people went to the bush. They abducted two, killed four and four people came back,” he disclosed.

He said the position at which each of the hunters were as at the time of the attack helped four of them to escape back to Dalori camp where they reported the incident, claiming that soldiers declined to act when the incident was reported to them

“Some of them were in the front while others were at the back. Those at the back then fled to the camp to give soldiers the report. That was about three o clock and up till about 5pm, soldiers couldn’t go there. They said they don’t have fuel,” he disclosed.

Saleh Mohammed, who was also around when the incident was reported to the military troops at Dalori maintained the insurgents were still around. “The place where the incident happened is just like three kilometers to Dalori camp. This means that these boys are still very much around.

Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj Gen Lucky Irabor dismissed the claim. “It is not true, how can soldiers say there is no fuel to pursue Boko Haram?” he asked.