Standup9ja: Boko Haram kidnaps 22 girls, women in Borno
Boko Haram fighters abducted 22 girls and women in two
separate raids in north-east Nigeria, residents and vigilantes said.
In the first attack on Thursday, the insurgents raided the
village of Pulka near the border with Cameroon where they kidnapped 18 girls.
“Boko Haram fighters from Mamman Nur camp arrived in pickup
vans around 6am and seized 14 young girls aged 17 and below while residents
fled into the bush,” a Pulka community leader told the Guardian UK.
“They picked four other girls who were fleeing the raid they
came across in the bush outside the village,” said the community leader who
asked not to be named for fear of reprisals.
Pulka is situated in a narrow strip along the
Nigeria-Cameroon border in Gwoza Local Government Area which was once declared
the centre of Islamic Caliphate by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.
According to the official, the attackers were loyal to the faction
headed by Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, the son of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf.
Barnawi was appointed last year by Isis to replace leader Abubakar Shekau, who
had pledged allegiance to the jihadist group in 2015.
Another resident confirmed the raid and said the girls were
likely to end up as brides for the fighters. “They didn’t harm anyone during
the raid and they made no attempt to shoot people running away from the
village,” said the resident.
Also on Thursday, the terrorist killed a herder and shot
dead no fewer than 50 of his cow for failing to pay ‘tax’ in an ‘occupied
territory’ in Northern part of Borno State.
Though Nigerian security forces have repeatedly claimed they
have uprooted Boko Haram elements in all known towns and villages in the North-East,
sources said the insurgents are still terrorizing locals in Northern Borno
communities, along the shores of the Lake Chad, forcing them to pay “taxes for
protection” in addition to other extortions.
The terrorists group, which claims to be fighting to
establish an Islamic state, extorts monies from locals as ‘Jizya’ an Arabic
word for protection levy paid by non-Muslims living in Islamic states.
Witnesses and local vigilantes said on Thursday, the Boko
Haram fighters in a village near Baga, in Kukawa Local Government Area, trailed
the fleeing herder to Dumba, another
village near the Lake Chad where they killed him.
The herder reportedly refused to pay the protection money
and instead, put together his wives, children, large herd of cow and other
belongings and set to flee.
Tukur Mahe, a local in the area said when the terrorists
visited the field where the herder lived with his family for the usual
collection of the tax, they found him missing.
“The Boko Haram tax collectors met an empty place because
the man left at night, probably because he was tired of their extortion,” he
said.
“Out of anger, they followed the footsteps of his herd and
family members and finally tracked them to Dumba and slaughtered him and his
cattle. They also abducted four women from his family, took away some foodstuff
and the rest of the cattle,” he said.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier
General Sani Kuka Sheka Usman, has denied reports of the abduction, describing
it as “false”.
“The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to a news
story circulating on Social Media and some mainstream media that suspected Boko
Haram terrorists have allegedly attacked Pulka and abducted 22 women,
attributing it to an unidentified Bulama as source.
“We wish state that the report is completely false and
should be ignored. For the avoidance of doubt, Pulka and its environs is
heavily fortified and there has not been any security breach in the area. Media
houses are please requested to always cross check their facts before publishing
or broadcasting,” he said.
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