By Olarewaju Kola
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria
At least 29 people were killed on Monday in coordinated attacks on three communities in Nigeria’s volatile northeastern Borno State, according to local sources.
Suspected Boko Haram militants in five 4x4 vehicles stormed the village of Dille – and two adjacent communities in Borno State’s Askira-Uba local government area – where they fired on local residents, according to federal legislator Jubrin Satumari.
Speaking by phone, Satumari, who himself hails from Dille, told journalists in Maiduguri, Borno State’s regional capital, that the attack had gone on from about 1pm to about 3pm local time Monday.
He said the militants had then gone on to attack two neighboring communities in the early hours of Tuesday.
“People are being killed in cold blood,” the legislator asserted. “Churches, mosques, shops and homes have been destroyed.”
“We've lost 29 people in the attacks so far, while many homes have been razed by Boko Haram,” he added.
Village resident Ezekiel Tumba, for his part, said 15 people had been killed in Dille alone.
“I saw 15 bodies yesterday before fleeing the village,” he told Anadolu Agency by phone from Yola, regional capital of the nearby Adamawa State.
Monday’s attack was the third such invasion of Dille by suspected Boko Haram militants.
In July of last year, militants overran the same village – where they killed no less than 15 local residents – in a dawn raid.
