Nigeria: Many killed or injured in Boko Haram attack

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Source: Vatican Media/ Fr Paul Samasumo

A Boko Haram attack in Maiduguri northeast Nigeria yesterday has left at least 15 dead and injured 83 others.

Military sources said the attack on Monday was the biggest since the government said that it was in talks with the Islamist militant group.

The militants attacked a military base and two surrounding villages on Easter Sunday night and in the early hours of Monday morning. There were gun battles between government troops as the militants tried to enter the city.

Army spokesman Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu said 15 persons including a soldier have so far been confirmed dead. About 83 persons are being treated for their injuries.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari previously declared the defeat of Boko Haram, which is trying to establish an Islamic state in northeast of Nigeria.

In the last nine years of this protracted conflict, more than 20,000 lives have been lost; two million villagers have been displaced and countless others have been abducted. Hundreds of families have been forced to abandon livelihoods and seek shelter in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, where they are living in camps or with host families.

The Nigerian Catholic Secretariat has condemned the ongoing terror by Boko Haram and called on the government to do more to protect innocent civilians.