BEVERLY HILLS, January 13, (THEWILL) – Rampaging Boko Haram gunmen have again raided Askira, a border town between Borno and Adamawa States. Askira, a predominantly farming community is located some 252 kilometres south of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
This is not the first time the town would be attacked by the terrorists as the gunmen last year attacked the town, destroying houses and many property.
Fleeing residents of the town said on Tuesday that the insurgents stormed the town in a convoy of Toyota Hilux vehicles and motorcycles at about 3:35 pm on Monday.
They were said to have been armed with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and petrol-bombs which they deployed in torching several public buildings, including a secondary school, Divisional Police Station and telecom masts.
One of the fleeing residents, Adamu Musa, said: “As we were about to depart the motor park yesterday afternoon, we saw some insurgents chanting God is great in Arabic.
“They moved to burn down a school in the town to ashes. They did not stop there; they proceeded to the police station and a health centre and threw IEDs at the buildings.”
He disclosed further that the residents of the town who were shocked at the attack “fled from the streets and market, running for safety.”
Explaining that he had to escape along with six passengers in his taxi to Maiduguri through Mbalala and Chibok road, Musa said: “I cannot give you the casualty figure of civilians and security personnel, but we saw some bodies of people on the road, while we were fleeing towards Mbalala.”
Musa’s disclosure was corroborated by a police source who said there was a report of insurgents’ attacks on one of the towns in Southern Borno Senatorial District.
“I cannot give you the casualties, but some public buildings were burnt, including our station in Askira town, 60 kilometres west of Uba near Mubi town in Adamawa State, ” the police source said on condition of anonymity.
