The death toll in the Saturday night Boko Haram attack on Izge village near the Borno State border with Adamawa has jumped to 106. News Express, quoting AFP sources, had last night put the death toll at about 60. Izge is a Christian-dominated community in Gwoza Local Government Area where Boko Haram ambushed and killed nine soldiers less than a week ago.

During the Saturday night attack on the community, gunmen reportedly fired at fleeing people and slaughtered others who were captured.

A survivor, Adamu Bulama Za, who fled to Gulak, headquarters of Madagali LGA of Adamawa, said: “We heard gunshots around 9 pm on Saturday and ran to the bush. The attackers rounded up and shot 40 people who tried to escape while those caught inside houses were slaughtered.

“After they left around 3am on Sunday, I decided to set out to Gulak at dawn alongside one of my daughters who is a cripple. My wife and the rest of the children are on their way.”

Another survivor, Salamatu Ali, who lost a father in-law and a brother in-law in the violence, said: “My husband scaled the fence to survive. When I left Izge this morning around 7am, I saw more than 70 corpses lying including that of my father in-law and there was nobody to bury them. Everybody was leaving.”

Daily Trust newspaper in its report quoted Senator representing Borno South, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, as putting the death toll at 106. He said 60 bodies were buried yesterday, while the remaining would be buried today, and that number of injured people was “uncountable.”

“The unfortunate thing is that those being killed are innocent, poor masses who don’t know anything,” Ndume said.

He said the total number of people killed in one month in Borno and Adamawa states was up to 500.

“We are all frightened by the escalation of violence and killings in just one month between February and January this year,” he said.

Borno State commissioner of police Lawal Tanko confirmed the latest attack but said he was yet to get the full details of what actually transpired.

“It happened but for now, I don’t have figures of the number of people killed,” he said.

Hassan Ali, a farmer in Izge, told journalists that the attack was executed by “dozens of terrorists, dressed in military uniforms, armed with guns, rocket launchers and knives.”

“So far, we have recovered 63 bodies and many others with life threatening injuries. Sadly, many of our people are nowhere to be found,” Ali added.

A senior Gwoza local government official said his people are under siege. “I don’t want to talk of the level of destruction but the fact is we are at the verge of extinction. The terrorists succeeded in killing our people because we don’t have any protection, no soldiers in Izge anymore,” he said.

Adamu Izge, who lost a brother in the attack, said: “They burnt down the whole community and even followed those that escaped to the nearby villages and slaughtered them.”

“It is clear that the terrorists are out to wipe us out. Nigerian security forces do not have the wherewithal to contain them. For now, Gwoza, Bama, Konduga and Damboa towns and all the villages around them are facing extinction,” he added.

•Photo shows Boko Haram fighters.

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