No fewer than 12 persons have been killed by suspected Boko Haram terrorists along Kirawa Road and Bokko Ghide community of Pulka district of Gwoza local government area of Borno State in the last 24 hours.
This is as the Emir of Gwoza, HRH Alhaji Mohammed Shehu Timta, confirmed to LEADERSHIP that two of the victims killed in the Kirawa Road ambush on Friday, April 25, 2025, were members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), while the other 10 victims were firewood scavengers who were also ambushed and killed on Saturday, April 26, 2025.
Timta who decried the spate of killings in recent times in Gwoza communities and other locations, said that such renewed attacks, if not checked, would sabotage the efforts of Borno State government and the military in their ongoing reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
It is unfortunate that two of my people who are members of Civilian Joint Task Force were ambushed and killed along Kirawa Road on Friday, while another 10 civilians who went to a nearby bush to scavenge firewood were killed today (Saturday) with two others sustaining serious injuries.
“We have since buried the victims today according to their religious rites, while the injured ones were evacuated to Maiduguri for treatment.
“Let me use this opportunity to pray Allah to grant Aljanatul Firdaus to the souls of the departed, and quick recovery to the injured ones.
“We know that government and the military have been doing their best in managing the over a decade Boko Haram crisis, but more efforts need to be done in terms of technological warfare and sophisticated equipment to deal with these terrorists.
“I can confirm to you that these renewed attacks would demoralise our resilient people who have started warming up for this year’s cropping season, as many would be scared from going to their farms,” the Emir lamented.
Meanwhile, the latest attacks were coming at the same time when the Borno State governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, called on the military to launch aggressive operations to eliminate insurgents from their enclaves.
Governor Zulum made the appeal at the weekend while receiving a high-level Federal Government delegation led by the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, Minister of State for Defence, Chief of Defence Staff and other military chiefs, during a courtesy visit at the Council Chamber of the Government House in Maiduguri.
