Boko Haram Abducts 10 Chinese, Kills 29

Not less than 29 people were killed in an attack at a market in Ngurosoye village in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State on Saturday.

Sunday Tribune gathered on Saturday that the insurgents came in hundreds on motorcycles and six Hilux vans and began shooting sporadically as they threw rocket launchers on traders in the market.

A security source, who spoke with newsmen, said they counted 29 lifeless bodies apart from several others who were wounded in the attack. 

“The situation rather than decreasing is seriously increasing. I think it is time government allowed us to comb this Sambisa forest and destroy all these evil people.”

It was learnt that the attack was the third in the market since Boko Haram   insurgents began its attacks in 2009.

Ngurosoye village is about 56 kilometers from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, which is also a gateway to the dreaded Sambisa forest.

It will be recalled that the insurgents started attacking the village when youths in the area took up arms alongside the Civilian JTF in the hunt for Boko Haram insurgents.

A resident of Bama town,  who spoke with Sunday Tribune, said the news  of possible attack on the  village had been doing the round for about two weeks, noting that it was important for government to find  a way of containing the insurgets, whom he said had become relentless in their attack against innocent people.

Meanwhile, 10 Chinese construction workers were abducted in Cameroon on Friday when Boko Haram insurgents attacked a construction site in northern part of the country.

The Chinese embassy in Yaounde confirmed the attack at a site near the town on Waza, 20 km, about 12 miles, from the Nigerian border, close to Sambisa forest.

According to a guard at the Waza National Park, the incident began when power was cut on Friday evening. 

“Some of us decided to hide in the forest with the animals,” the guard said.

The governor of Far North region, Augustine Fonka Awa, said he believed Boko Haram had carried out the attack. Authorities are investigating reports that at least one Cameroon soldier was killed and 10 people were abducted, he said.

The Chinese’s news agency, Xinhua, quoted Chinese officials as saying one person was injured.

“Four companies are operating in the northern part of Cameroon in particular; they should instantly start security contingency plans,” the embassy said in a statement.

At least two Chinese enterprises operate in the region. Xinhua said an engineering unit of state-run construction company, Sinohydro, which is repairing roads, operated the camp, while Yan Chang Logone Development Holding Company, a subsidiary of China’s Yanchang Petroleum, is exploring for oil there.

Boko Haram has staged several attacks in northern Cameroon during its five-year fight to set up an Islamist state. Last month, it attacked a police post killing two people. The rebels also kidnapped a French family in February 2013.

Nigerian authorities say Cameroon has not done enough to secure its border because Boko Haram has been using the sparsely populated Far North region as a transit route for weapons and as a rear base for attacks in northeastern Nigeria.

Cameroon said in March it would send 700 soldiers to its northeastern border as part of regional efforts to tackle the armed group.

Boko Haram threatens to invade schools in BenueTHE  dreaded terrorist sect, Boko Haram, has threatened to invade the Government College, Makurdi,  tomorrow, Monday, 19th May, 2014, to abduct some boys whom it said would be married off to  the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.

According to an information obtained by Sunday Tribune, the  sect aslo threatened to attack Mount Saint Gabriel Secondary School, opposite the Government College.

As of the time Sunday Tribune visited the school close to Aper  Aku Stadium in Makurdi, stern-looking policemen were seen keeping vigil at the school, while thorough screening was being carried out on visitors who came to the school premises.

Confirming the report, the Principal of Government College, Makurdi,  Mr Ugudu Geofrey, said two letters written in pidgin English were seen with the same content, one at a classroom in the school and the second in a staff room.

According to him, “It is true that we saw letters informing us of the planned invasion of our school by Boko Haram  either on Friday or Monday. The letters were dated 14th May, 2014, and they stated that the sect was coming to abduct our boys whom they would marry to  the abducted schoolgirls.

“In the letter, we were asked to inform the Mount Saint  Gabriel Secondary School opposite us to also get prepared as they promised to invade the place too,” he explained.

Immediately we got the letters, we alerted policemen and at the same the time commissioner for education and onward report has been made to the governor on the issue”.

The principal, who commended the state government and security operatives in the state for prompt response, said that everything  was being done to ensure the safety of the school children, adding that, he had informed the principal of Mount Saint Gabriel too.

A visit to Mount Saint  Gabriel school also revealed tight security, but efforts to  gain entry and speak with school authourity were not successful as newsmen were barred from entering.

Both schools are all-boys schools, with about 500 of over 700 students of the Government College said to be boarders while Mount Saint Gabriel is purely a boarding school.

When contacted, the Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO) SP Dan Ezeala confirmed the report and  assured that the police were on the top of the situation.

Tribune