17 killed in B’Haram, Vigilance group clash

Boko Haram members

No fewer than 17 people were killed and 17 others injured when suspected Boko Haram sect members attacked some members of the civilian vigilance group in Benisheik village, near Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Saturday night.

The attack came barely 48 hours after the Nigeria military raided an Islamic insurgent camp and killed about 50 sect members in the North.

While the 12 vigilance group members were killed, five Boko Haram members lost their lives and four AK-47 rifles were also retrieved in the clash.

According to an operative of the Civilian Joint Task Force Vigilance Group, Zannah Fannami, the vigilance members were killed while repelling Boko Haram’s attack on the town.

The 27-year-old operative, with the Civilian Joint Task Force vigilante group, who is receiving treatment at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital for a bullet to his right thigh said, “We heard that they would be coming since Friday and had been keeping vigil all nights.

“Late Saturday night, when we least expected it, we heard a thunderous sound like that of a bomb coming from the direction of a soldiers’ post, then we decided to advance toward the sound and the Boko Haram gunmen, carrying sophisticated arms, opened fire on us, killing 12 of our members.”

The survivor explained that the vigilance group, which was formed to fight the Boko Haram insurgents,  killed five of the sect members and took possession of four of that AK-47 rifles.

Another injured Civilian-JTF operative, 32-year-old Muhammed Abuwar, blamed the military for the attack, saying the soldiers refused to shield them from the “expected” attack.

Borno State Government labour adviser, Garba Ngamdu, who also hails from Benisheik, said one of vigilance members had died in the hospital as doctors tried to remove bullets from his body.

He also confirmed the death of the five Boko Haram members at the hands of vigilance members with machetes and said their corpses were on the outskirts of the town.