Boko Haram gunmen stormed Gamborou Ngala town in Borno state in a convoy of armored vehicles, Toyota Hiluxes armed with an assortment of weapons including Improvised Explosive Devices, (IEDs), petrol bombs, assault rifles and Rocket Propelled Launchers (RPGs).
The Army which had been stationed at the town hours before the attack was said to have relocated to the Lake Chad axis after receiving an ‘intelligence’ report that the abducted girls had been sighted in that area with gunmen.
The attack took place during market hours on Market Day and the townsmen and women ran into hiding abandoning their livestock and produce as Boko Haram members helped themselves to goats, cows and chickens. The gunmen also slaughtered the indigenes of the town like the chickens they stole, killing a reported 300 casualties and leaving many injured.
An eyewitness said, “The attack was so terrible. I saw many dead bodies on the ground before I managed to escape.
“I also noticed that some people who had earlier run to hide somewhere immediately the shooting started in the market were later traced to their hiding places by the boys and were slaughtered.”
Senator Ahmed Zannah said, “The attackers stormed the communities in the night when residents were still sleeping, setting ablaze houses, shops and residents who tried to escaped from the fire, were shot.”
“About 300 persons were confirmed dead after the incident, with several others injured. Almost all the houses in the communities were destroyed by the hoodlums who threw Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) at the buildings.
“My brother who was at the scene of the attack told me that the actual number of the dead cannot be ascertained but at least they are up to 300. In fact as we spoke he wept following the high number of the dead bodies which littered the market.”
“Initially there were many security operatives in the town to secure it from possible attacks. However upon receiving information over the movements of insurgents with kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls towards Lake Chad area,they withdraw and moved further to confront the gunmen.
“It was just an hour after their withdrawal that the terrorists indaved the town, shooting everyone at sight and setting buildings on fire. So far 200 vehicles and thousands of houses, shops and an outfit of the Nigerian Customs Service, (NCS) were all burnt”, he explained.
Similarly, a police source said eight girls between the ages of 12 and 15 were kidnapped in Warabe during a midnight raid on the village which is near a Boko Haram stronghold.