President Bola Tinubu has condemned Sunday’s attack on Mafa, in Tarmuwa Local Government Area of Yobe State, as atrocious and cowardly.
Tinubu assured the people of the state that perpetrators of the evil act that resulted in the loss of many lives would be brought to justice.
The president, in a release by his media adviser, Ajuri Ngelale, commiserated with the government and the people of Yobe State over the tragic incident.
Tinubu also extended his condolences to the bereaved families, and condemned the killings as an act of terror by a degraded group of criminals. He prayed for the repose of the souls of the deceased and speedy recovery for the wounded.
Dozens of people were killed on Sunday afternoon after suspected Boko Haram terrorists attacked a village in the state, setting fire to shops and homes.
Yobe State police spokesman, Dungus Abdulkarim, said, “Around 150 suspected Boko Haram terrorists armed with rifles and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) attacked Mafa ward on more than 50 motorcycles.”
Abdulkarim said, “They killed many people and burned many shops and houses. We are yet to ascertain the actual number of those killed in the attack.”
Abdulkarim also said the attack was in apparent retaliation for the killing of two suspected Boko Haram fighters by local vigilantes.
Yobe is one of the three states on the frontline of a 15-year insurgency by Boko Haram and other hard-line groups, which had killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than two million.
The armed groups had strengthened their position by working with gangs of criminals known as “bandits”, who raid villages, kill and abduct residents, and burn homes after looting them.
Officials said efforts were continuing to confirm the number of people killed in Mafa.
Bulama Jalaluddeen, a resident of the area, said, “It has been established that at least 81 people were killed in the attack.”
Jalaluddeen stated, “Fifteen bodies had already been buried by their relations by the time soldiers reached Mafa for the evacuation of the corpses. In addition to these, some unspecified number of dead victims from nearby villages, who were caught up in the attack were taken and buried by their kinsmen before the arrival of the soldiers. Many people are still missing and their whereabouts unknown.”
A military official, who accompanied the army’s commanding officer for Yobe to Mafa on Monday evening said the route to the village had been rigged with explosives, which troops managed to defuse.
“We recovered 37 corpses and brought them to Babangida General Hospital,” the official told the Reuters news agency. He declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media.