The bloodletting in Nigeria’s troubled North-East has continued with the murder of 52 innocent persons by gunmen in Borno and Taraba states.

In Borno, gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists shot dead Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kala/Balge Local Council, Alhaji Modu Janga, and the party’s Youth Leader, Alhaji Abba, near Mafa Town on the Maiduguri-Dikwa Road. The incident happened at about 11:00 a.m. on Monday.

Janga and Mafa were said to be returning to Gudumbali from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, when their vehicle was ambushed near Mafa Town. According to an eyewitness and resident of Mafa, Fogu Fannami, the insurgents blocked the road with wood and tree branches to force the vehicle to stop. They shot to death two persons on the spot and fled towards Dikwa, a border town with Cameroun.

“The party chairman, along with other passengers in the ambushed vehicle, were first stopped by flagging down the driver for identification of the occupants before three gunmen on motorcycles shot dead two people at close range and fled towards Dikwa,” Fannami said in Maiduguri.

According to him, the gunmen did not rob the APC officials as their vehicle was abandoned at the scene of the incident. The road was also said to have been closed for two hours by soldiers and policemen to prevent further attacks.

In the case of Taraba, daring gunmen yesterday defied the dusk-to-dawn curfew and attacked Gidan Aku community on the outskirts of Wukari Local Government Area, killing no fewer than 50 persons and injuring many others.

The attackers, armed with sophisticated weapons allegedly came from Nasarawa State through the plains of Benue River and descended on their victims while the residents were asleep.

According to a lawyer in the community, Luka Agbu, the “attackers were very hostile to us and did not spare even children or the aged.

“The attackers shot at people and burnt houses at the same time without any intervention by the security forces. We are helpless here and we plead with the Federal Government to deploy special troops to rescue us from this unfortunate and deadly attacks.

“Our people are being killed by gunmen, we are losing property on a daily basis. What kind of a country is this?”

But as the dust began to settle, a contingent of soldiers and anti-riot policemen were drafted to Wukari community to contain the situation although most of the community members had deserted the area for fear of further attacks.

•Based on reports in The Guardian and Vanguard.

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