From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Emotions ran high yesterday as community members buried 34 victims of the deadly attack by insurgents in Tarmuwa Local Government of Yobe State.
Unknown number of terrorists on motorcycles, invaded Mafa village, a remote community about 45 kilometres to Damaturu, the state capital on Sunday evening.
Sources at Babbangida, a town near the scene of the attack and headquarters of Tarmuwa LG, told The Sun that the terrorists looted shops, carted away foodstuffs as well as livestock. They also sacked the community as they set fire on houses and trading centres, leaving behind blood and anguish.
Yobe State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO)DSP Abdulkarim Dungus described the attack as carnage. He said that Mafa community known for its economic relevance in the state has a very big and thriving local market.
“The police is working with the military to protect the people of the area,”
Yobe deputy governor, Alhaji Idi Barde Gubana led the government delegation to Babbanguda yesterday for the funeral prayers and burial of the 34 victims evacuated by the military after the attack.
The deputy governor had also announced donation of N30 million by the state government for the treatment of those injured and care of people displaced by the attack.
Meanwhile, the global watchdog Amnesty International yesterday, put the death toll at 127, and called on the government to investigate the attack.
“Amnesty International calls on the Nigerian authorities to investigate the insurgents vicious and unlawful killing of 127 people, following an attack on Mafa village Yobe state on Sunday,” it said in a statement posted on its X.
Amnesty noted the Sunday incident was the latest in “a string of atrocities” committed by Boko Haram in Yobe and Borno state since 2019.
“These killings specifically targeting civilians amount to war crimes,” Amnesty declared.
More than 100,000 people have been killed and over three million displaced in the over a decade of attacks by insurgents in North-East states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY states).
Children and women constitute more than half of the displacement population, according to a data by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
However, the Islamic State’s West African province (ISWAP) has claimed responsibility for the attack.
