Suspected Boko Haram terrorists have ambushed and beheaded no fewer than 11 loggers in the Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State.
It was gathered that the terrorists rode on camels and carried out the attack on Sunday evening.
A vigilante in the area, who to a correspondent on the telephone on Tuesday, said, “We found six bodies of the loggers who were butchered by the Boko Haram terrorists from the location on Monday evening.
“We do not think any of them survived the attack. Their bodies were badly dismembered, and we found them in a pool of blood as all parts of their bodies were cut into pieces.
“We immediately organised ourselves to bury what remained of them in the evening, according to Islamic rites. Although five people are still missing, we are praying that those five should escape, and maybe when tension calms down, they will return to us to narrate what really happened. But for now, we don’t know if they escaped or were abducted too.
A resident of Damboa, Abdu Abubakar, who also spoke to The PUNCH said, “They ambushed the loggers who burn logs to charcoal at about 6:30 pm on Sunday, November 25, on their way from the bush around Bali, a village near Damboa, and killed 18 people. Some of the loggers fled into the bush and in different directions.”
Another vigilante, who corroborated Abubakar’s claim, told the PUNCH, “The loggers were working at their charcoal site when they were suddenly rounded up by the terrorists who refused all pleas for mercy from their victims but went ahead to kill the six persons instantly.
“We learnt that they came on camels and surrounded the victims. We saw the footprints of the caramels. We counted about 15 camel footprints.
“Although we learnt that some of the lucky loggers ran as fast as they could, even though they were pursued by the heartless Boko Haram terrorists.
“Why we also believe the others escaped is because camels don’t run as fast as horses, and more importantly, the victims are familiar with the terrain; that’s why we’re praying that they escape.
“It was later we were informed about the situation of things there that we mobilised and went to the scene only to find the six bodies dismembered and abandoned at the site. This morning, an additional five bodies were recovered, so we have a total of 11 corpses so far. But the soldiers, alongside the vigilantes, are currently in the area and also combing the woods.”
Efforts to reach the state Police Public Relations Officer, Nahum Kenneth failed, as he neither picked up calls to his mobile line nor responded to a text message.
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