GUNMEN suspected to be Boko Haram members have allegedly killed at least 45 Nigerian security personnel, after laying siege on the town of Buni Yadi, the headquarters of Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State.
Reports said Boko Haram gunmen, on trucks and motorcycles, stormed the town late on Monday.
A source with Nigeria’s Joint Task Force told Voice of America (VOA) Hausa Service that 24 soldiers and 21 police officers were confirmed dead following the attack.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the gunmen took away an armoured tank and many vehicles.
There has been no word on civilian casualties.
A Hausa Service reporter said militants were also attacking motorists on highways leading in and out of Maiduguri, Borno State capital.
Drivers said snipers waited on trees to fire at passing cars, which were then attacked by gunmen hiding in bushes by the side of the road.
The twin bombings in the city of Jos last week killed 130 people, and Boko Haram continues to hold more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from a school in the village of Chibok last month.
Meanwhile, eight people were killed when some suspected terrorists, using motorcycles and armed with AK-47 rifles, stormed Chinene village of Chikide-Joghode-Kaghum ward of Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.
The insurgents, according to sources, also hoisted their flags in Ashigashiya ward and other hilly border villages with Cameroon Republic.
A resident, names withheld for security reasons, told the Nigerian Tribune that the gunmen invaded Chinene, a border community with Cameroon Republic, at about 2.00 a.m on Tuesday and opened fire on sleeping residents, killing eight people, including an old woman in her 80s.
He gave the names of those killed to include Bulama Dajiba, Bulama John, Haruna Kwatha, Haruna Wadda, Births Kurma, Haruna Waruda and Shaibu Galva
“Some terrorists came to our community yesterday evening (Monday) when we were asleep, they shouted Allahu Akbar in Arabic and shot sporadically at fleeing residents, killing eight people, while two of our members sustained gunshot injuries.
“They had a field day as we could not confront them when all of them were carrying AK-47 rifles and petrol bombs. After they killed some of us, they later went to our two churches and set them ablaze, including some shops and residential houses.
“As I am talking to you now, we are yet to bury the dead, as most people have fled the area for fear of further attacks,” he said.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Gideon Jubrin, could not be reached, as all his phone numbers were switched off, but a top police source confirmed the attacks and the number of the casualties.
