Boko Haram kills 11 freed civilians in Gwoza

Eleven persons were killed by the Boko Haram insurgents in a part of Gwoza town, a military source told our correspondent on the telephone to Maiduguri on Friday.

The source said the victims were civilians, who were recently rescued by soldiers during the recapture of the town from the Boko Haram militias.

According to the source, the civilians had, during the long reign of the insurgents in the Borno town, stayed on the mountain but were evacuated by the military on the liberation of Gwoza.
They were said to have been taken to a perceived safer place by the military, who were planning a further clampdown on suspected Boko Haram camps in the area.

The source said, “It was unfortunate that while they were kept at a supposed safer place at the base of the hill, with some (military) troops stationed there to guard them, some Boko Haram men struck on Wednesday, and killed at least 11 of the people.”

An indigene of Gwoza, resident in Maiduguri, Ibrahim Musa, said he lost a friend to the attack.
He told our correspondent on the telephone that he was informed of the attack by a soldier friend of his on Friday morning after he returned from the town.

Musa added that the soldier told him that some soldiers were wounded in the attack.
He said, “A soldier friend (of mine), who came to Maiduguri with some wounded soldiers, told me about the attack because a friend of mine, known to him, was lost.

“They (victims) were slaughtered by Boko Haram. He said they came in a large number, more than the soldiers stationed to guard the people, and the soldiers had to flee for safety.”