At least 32 people have been murdered in three separate attacks in northeastern state of Adamawa in Nigeria.
According to authorities, the attacks, which included one on a theological college, occurred very late on Wednesday — a day after the attack on the Federal Government College Buni Yadi, Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State, which resulted in the death of 43 people.
Chairman of Madagali Local Government, Maina Ularamu said a large number of militants carried out three separate attacks on Shuwa and Kirchinga (which are located in his local government) and on Michika in neighbouring Michika district.
“The gunmen divided themselves into three groups and separately attacked the three locations,” Ularamu said, adding that several buildings — among which were a Christian theological college and a secondary school building — were burnt in Shuwa.
A resident, Kwaje Bitrus confirmed that a total of 20 people, including three from the seminary, were murdered; while another resident, Samuel Garba said the gunmen in Kirchinga disguised themselves in military uniform to kill eight people in the village and burnt many houses.
The Military subsequently issued a statement to confirm the attacks, but claimed that only one soldier and three civilians were killed, while the soldiers killed six suspected Islamists.
“The militants, in desperation for money and food, looted and burnt banks and shops, and also tried to escape across the Cameroon border”, the statement said.
The Army had ordered the closure of the state’s border with Cameroon to block the sect’s exit routes.
Residents who narrated their experiences said the fled to nearby hills when the assailants arrived in trucks and on motorcycles, at about 9:30 pm on Wednesday, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and explosives that they threw sporadically at houses and public buildings.
They said the attack went on for more than four hours, the attackers razing four banks, several shops, a police station, government buildings and many houses.
More than 100 people have been killed this year alone in renewed acts of terrorism in the North-East, while the United Nations said on Thursday that almost 300,000 people, half of whom are children, had been displaced by the killings.
