Contrary to government claims that the terrorist sect is defeated, Boko Haram has proven over the last week that it is very much alive, mounting several attacks on communities across Borno State. Last weekend, the sect attacked Dalori village in Borno State, killing over 80 people and over the last few days, it has launched an offensive against the villages on the outskirts of Maiduguri.
On Friday, Boko Haram attacked the villages of Mairi and Malari where they killed four persons and burnt both communities to the ground. One local resident Abba Yusuf, said that at Mairi village, the insurgents shot a teenage boy who was a student at a local Islamic school, while three women were trapped in a razed house and burnt to death.
He added that after the destruction of Mairi, about 11km from Maiduguri, the insurgents went to Malari village, a few kilometres away and almost razed the entire village to the ground when they found no one there. Local villagers had fled after receiving hints about the Boko Haram attack and hearing sounds of gunshot from neighbouring Malari.
Local people from both villages are now heading towards Maiduguri with their luggage on their heads. One of the fleeing locals, Hassanatu Abubakar, said: “It will be a suicide mission to continue to live in the area as the insurgents may still attack."
Senator Baba Kaka Garba, representing Borno Central senatorial district, where the attacks took place, said the military needs to wake up to the new threat on the people of the state. He said the insurgents had shown that they are not truly dead and buried and it is time for the army to come back to the reality that much more still needs to be done and start pushing forward until these hoodlums are defeated.
Boko Haram is estimated to have killed nearly 18,000 since the start of the insurgency in 2009. President Muhammadu Buhari recently said that the sect has been defeated militarily and can only carry out sporadic attacks.
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