Boko Haram Militants Hack 10 To Death In Raid Of Nigerian Village

Militants from Boko Haram killed 10 people, hacking them to death using machetes, in a raid on a northeast village in Nigeria’s Adamawa state, CNN reported. Boko Haram militants, armed with little more than machetes, attacked the village in the early morning hours while the residents of the village were still sleeping.

Maina Ularamu, the chairman for the Madagali government said about the attack from Boko Haram:

“The attackers went into the village around 4:00 a.m. while residents were still asleep and used machetes to attack their victims.

“Boko Haram insurgents on Friday attacked Pambula-Kwamda village, which is five kilometers from Gulak, the local government headquarters, where they hacked to death ten people.”

Ularamu contiuned, saying about the Boko Haram attackers:

“According to residents of the village, the attackers didn’t have much weapons, and many of them carried no arms at all. They only fired a few shots when they were leaving after the attack.”

The military in the Madagali district declared the area free of Boko Haram militants in March. Boko Haram had seized the Madagali district in August, pushing back both the military forces in the area and thousands of residents in the village. The military was able to take back the area in a counteroffensive.

Boko Haram has been tormenting the people of the area for months now. Ularamu said about the Boko Haram attackers,

“We believe the attackers are the same people raiding villages in the area recently and are hiding in nearby bushes and mountains,”

Ularamu said about the response to the Boko Haram attacks:

“We are mobilizing local hunters and vigilantes to go into the bushes and mountains [to] hunt them down.”

The United Nations have condemned Boko Haram and the militant group’s actions since they began their campaign in Nigeria. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s office said in a statement on Friday about the attacks from Boko Haram militants:

“The Secretary General is deeply troubled by the continuing indiscriminate and horrific attacks by Boko Haram against civilian populations in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. He regrets that in spite of the military gains made by the affected countries, Boko Haram continues its wanton destruction and killing of civilians.”

The statement continues, saying:

“The perpetrators of these despicable acts must be brought to justice. He calls on the Government of Nigeria to scale up the provision of medical and psychosocial suport to the survivors.”

Around 15,000 people have already been killed due to Boko Haram’s insurgency in Nigeria and its neighboring countries, which began in 2009. About 1.5 million people have been displaced because of the fighting. Boko Haram has been trying to create an Islamic state in the African country since it began its insurgency.

[Photo credit: Flickr/ Hello World Media]