Borno Community Decries Incessant Boko Haram Attacks, Count Losses

Residents of Kirawa in Gwoza local government area of Borno State have decried recent continuous attacks by Boko Haram terrorists in the area leading to loss of some lives and property and displacement of people from their homes.

Kirawa is about 22km from Gwoza, the headquarters of Gwoza local government area and about 112km from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Kirawa is a transit route through where merchants carry their goods from Borno to Cameroon and its bordering neighbours, as well as goods from Cameroon through Borno to other parts of Nigeria.
Our correspondent reports that in the first attack, the terrorists dislodged the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) base in Kirawa mounted by Cameroonian soldiers, making the residents to flee to Cameroon for safety, while in the second attack, a top Civilian Joint Task Force member was killed and about six vehicles loaded with goods and farm produce were set ablaze by the terrorists between Pulka-Kirawa Road.

In the recent and third attack which occurred on Monday night, two lives were lost as the terrorists set the palace of the district head of Kirawa, alongside 50 houses and shops, including heavy-duty equipment used in grading the dilapidated Kirawa Road by the Borno State government.

Lamenting their predicament, a resident of Kirwa, Mohammed Abubakar, said the terrorists burnt down most of their houses and shops, adding that out of fear, before Governor Babagana Zulum mobilised Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), hunters and vigilantes to the community, they used to move to Cameroon to sleep at night and return in the morning to their community.

He said since the recent attacks, they have been struggling to feed from the typical food donated to the community, as most of their businesses were destroyed by the terrorists, adding that their immediate need is the deployment of soldiers to the community to guarantee their safety.

Abubakar noted that since the Cameroonian soldiers from the MNJTF were dislodged about a month ago, there has been no presence of conventional security, especially the Nigerian military, in the community.

In the same vein, 48-year-old Baba Kyari Shettima, a father of 11 children with two wives, commended Governor Zulum for mobilising members of the CJTF, hunters and vigilantes to build the confidence of the people against the invading Boko Haram terrorists.

Shettima further called for the deployment of soldiers to the community now that people are picking up their lives back after the destruction, saying that it has not been easy for his family since the latest attack, having lost his business after the terrorists burnt their shops.

Similarly, a mother of nine children, Zara Mohammed, recalled how the Boko Haram terrorists had attacked the community thrice, killing and burning property, saying that help had not been coming their way in all these attacks before the coming of the governor, who provided food for them.

For the district head of Kirwa, Abdulrahaman Abubakar, whose palace was set ablaze by the terrorists, the major challenges his people are facing are the absence of a hospital which made them go to Cameroon for treatment as well as a dilapidated road network, noting that the only dispensary in the community was burnt by the terrorists alongside several houses.

Speaking during his sympathy visit on Friday to the people of Kirawa, Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum, regretted that seven years after the resettling of Kirawa community, the terrorists tried to shatter the peace the people have been enjoying, hence he reiterated his call for the deployment of soldiers to border communities like Kirawa, in the southern part of the state and Wulgo in Borno Central and Baga, Damasak, Malam Fatori, among others, in the northern part of the state.