At least 81 people have been killed and many more are missing after a new jihadist attack in northeastern Nigeria, local authorities said.
According to the Yobe State Police, about 150 Boko Haram members, armed with guns and hand grenades, attacked the village of Mafa at around 4:00 pm on Sunday afternoon. “We believe it was in retaliation for the killing of two Boko Haram terrorists by the village’s self-defence groups,” said police spokesman Abdulkarim Dungus. The jihadists have repeatedly accused Mafa residents of assisting the army in its operations against the group.
“They set fire to houses and those who hid inside were burned alive”
“At least 81 people were killed,” said Bulama Jalaluddin, a spokesman for the chairman of the Tarmua local government, where Mafa is located. The attackers “set fire to houses, most of which had thatched roofs, and those hiding inside were burned alive,” said a local government official, who asked not to be identified. This source had previously spoken to a Mafa resident who escaped the attack.
According to Jalaluddin, 34 victims were buried in Babangida and another 30 remain in Mafa. “Fifteen victims had already been buried by their families when the soldiers arrived in Mafa. An undetermined number of victims from neighbouring villages were taken and buried by their families before the army arrived,” he added.
Police have not released an estimate. But they say Boko Haram killed “many people and burned down shops and houses.”
Increase in jihadist attacks in recent years
Villages in Yobe state, home mainly to herders and farmers, are frequently looted by jihadists from Boko Haram and the rival Islamic State group in West Africa. Attacks have increased in recent years as the jihadists accuse residents of tipping off the army and local militias about their movements. In late October 2023, police, with the help of villagers, killed several jihadists near the community of Kayaya after its residents received threats. In retaliation, the jihadists killed 37 people in two days in two villages in the state. Twenty of the victims were returning from the funeral of the first.