More details have emerged on how suspected Boko Haram/ ISWAP terrorists on Tuesday razed down about 25 newly constructed buildings meant for returnee internally displaced persons (IDPs) at Gajibo in Dikwa local government area of Borno State.
The attack came after the terrorists last Sunday abducted about 100 IDPs who went into the forest to fetch firewood at Ngala, the headquarters of Gamboru Ngala local government area of Borno State.
A source who was on his way to Maiduguri from Gamboru, said he saw and counted more than 25 newly constructed houses at Gajibo village in Dkiwa LGA that were razed by the fire.
Similarly, sources according to Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency and security analyst in the Lake Chad, said in the recent attack, a group of at least 25 ISWAP fighters, led by commander Mustapha Ali and chief bomb maker Abdulrahman, targeted the town of Gajibo in Dikwa local government area.
The sources added that these insurgents, affiliated with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), deliberately set fire to houses that had been recently constructed under the supervision of Professor Babagana Zulum, the governor of Borno State.
“The assault occurred on Wednesday night when the terrorists entered Gajibo and ignited several of the new houses before quickly withdrawing from the area. These properties were built as a collaborative effort between the Borno State Government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), aimed at providing shelter for internally displaced persons (IDPs).
“The ISWAP’s attack was strategically aimed at the government’s new structures. This act of arson was a direct response to the Borno State government’s initiative to resettle IDPs back into the Logomani and Gajibo communities.
“Furthermore, it was reported that the group also included Abdulrahaman, the ISWAP chief bomb maker. He was responsible for planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) along the roads, intending to target Nigerian troops. However, one of these IEDs prematurely detonated, killing several cows owned by Fulani herdsmen instead,” the sources said.
The sources also revealed that ISWAP has deployed additional bomb experts, such as Abuwar Bizi and Man Ba’ana, also known as “Government House,” who had received IED training in Somalia.
“These experts have been planting IEDs indiscriminately along the road in Gamborun Ngala, posing a significant threat to the safety of the area,” he said.
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