Boko Haram militants have killed dozens of people and burned down homes in the northeast Nigerian town of Baga in the past two days, in a second killing spree since seizing control there at the weekend.
Two locals said the Islamist insurgents began shooting indiscriminately and burning buildings on Tuesday evening in raids on the civilian population that carried on into Wednesday.
“I escaped with my family in the car after seeing how Boko Haram was killing people…I saw bodies in the street.
Children and women, some were crying for help,” Mohamed Bukar said after fleeing to the state capital Maiduguri.
The insurgency killed more than 10000 people last year, according to a count by the Council on Foreign Relations in November.
It is seen as the gravest threat to Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, and a headache for Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of an election on February 14.
Soldiers fled Baga over the weekend when the Sunni jihadist group overran an army base.
The district head of Baga, Abba Hassan, said on Thursday that at least 100 people had been killed when the group first took over the town on the edge of Lake Chad.
TV footage showed scores of civilians waiting to catch buses out of town.
In the last week, around 2000 Nigerians and 500 Chadians have fled Boko Haram attacks in Chad’s Lake region, Chadian Prime Minister Kalzeubet Pahimi said.
A source at a rights group in Maiduguri said 10 women who sneaked out of Baga a few days after the first attack had reported that their daughters aged 10-20 had been kidnapped.
The militants have been waging an insurgency to establish an Islamic state for more than five years.
The number and scale of attacks rose sharply last year after the government imposed emergency rule on the three worst-hit states in 2013.
Jonathan has met growing criticism for failing to quash the revolt.
Jonathan defended his record on tackling Boko Haram at the launch of his election campaign and blamed opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari for Nigeria’s ill-equipped army.
Boko Haram has taken over or rendered ungovernable swathes of the northeast, especially Borno state where Baga is located.
It has also launched attacks in Chad and Cameroon, while Chad has appealed for international aid to support the refugees coming across its border. — Reuters
People flee Boko Haram
Two locals said the Islamist insurgents began shooting indiscriminately and burning buildings on Tuesday evening in raids on the civilian population that carried on into Wednesday.
“I escaped with my family in the car after seeing how Boko Haram was killing people…I saw bodies in the street.
Children and women, some were crying for help,” Mohamed Bukar said after fleeing to the state capital Maiduguri.
The insurgency killed more than 10000 people last year, according to a count by the Council on Foreign Relations in November.
It is seen as the gravest threat to Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, and a headache for Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of an election on February 14.
Soldiers fled Baga over the weekend when the Sunni jihadist group overran an army base.
The district head of Baga, Abba Hassan, said on Thursday that at least 100 people had been killed when the group first took over the town on the edge of Lake Chad.
TV footage showed scores of civilians waiting to catch buses out of town.
In the last week, around 2000 Nigerians and 500 Chadians have fled Boko Haram attacks in Chad’s Lake region, Chadian Prime Minister Kalzeubet Pahimi said.
A source at a rights group in Maiduguri said 10 women who sneaked out of Baga a few days after the first attack had reported that their daughters aged 10-20 had been kidnapped.
The militants have been waging an insurgency to establish an Islamic state for more than five years.
The number and scale of attacks rose sharply last year after the government imposed emergency rule on the three worst-hit states in 2013.
Jonathan has met growing criticism for failing to quash the revolt.
Jonathan defended his record on tackling Boko Haram at the launch of his election campaign and blamed opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari for Nigeria’s ill-equipped army.
Boko Haram has taken over or rendered ungovernable swathes of the northeast, especially Borno state where Baga is located.
It has also launched attacks in Chad and Cameroon, while Chad has appealed for international aid to support the refugees coming across its border. — Reuters
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