Boko Haram Militants
On Thursday, witnesses and other sources reported the kidnapping of more than 170 women and children as well as the deaths of at least 35 people in an attack on the village of Gumsuri by militants who are suspected as Boko Haram.
The attack occurred on Sunday, but because of downed telecommunication towers the news was not spread until four days after the tragedy. Residents who were able to escape the raid fled to Maiduguri. Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in Nigeria, has become a city of refugees for Boko Haram victims. Survivors of Boko Haram attacks fill the city, which is strained with the heavy influx of population.
Though the exact number of those abducted is unknown, several witnesses estimate between 170-190 individuals have been taken by the terrorist group.
Boko Haram, an extremist militant group whose name means: “Western education is sinful”, has been terrorizing the Nigerian people for years. According to residents of Gumsuri, the militants attacked the village from two sides and overwhelmed the vigilantes that protected the village for the past year. Men were killed while women, girls, and children were herded into two open-top trucks. Boko Haram has been known to force their prisoners into Islamic conversion and subjecting them to sexual, physical, and mental abuse.
After the raid, the militants set fire to the houses in the village with gasoline before departing with their prisoners.
On a different front, Boko Haram suffered heavy casualties as it attacked an army base in Cameroon. According to the military, some 116 Boko Haram militants were killed in the attack on Wednesday.
The Nigerian government has been heavily criticized for its lack of effectiveness in responding to the militants. Nigerians complain that the national security forces do little to stop the militants.
“The government is outraged and deeply saddened by this deplorable act. Boko Haram continues to choose, ever cowardly, to target civilian populations to spread their brand of terror,” said Mike Omeri, spokesman of the Nigerian government.
