BOKO HARAM IS AT IT AGAIN OOOO, 5 NECO candidates, 13 others killed in fresh Boko Haram attacks

MAIDUGURI— Barely 24 hours after gunmen, suspected to be Boko Haram members, Sunday night, killed seven students and two teachers of Government Secondary School, Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, five students and 13 civilians were, Monday, killed in separate attacks by suspected Boko Haram sect in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
Our correspondent gathered that five of the students killed were writing the ongoing National Examination Council, NECO, examinations when the gunmen stormed Ansarudin, a private primary/secondary school in Jajeri ward of the metropolis and opened fire in the hall, few minutes after the examination started.

2012 Bauchi State flood victims waiting at bank in Bauchi for money on Tuesday

An eye witness who pleaded anonymity for security reasons told Vanguard that one of the victims was impersonating a candidate as he was writing the exams for somebody else, before he met his untimely death at about 3pm when the gunmen struck.

13 others  killed in Maiduguri

In a related development, about 13 people, including fishermen and tea vendors, were killed around the Alau Dam situated on the outskirts of Maiduguri by suspected sect members.
Vanguard  reliably gathered that the gunmen ambushed the people around the dam and before opening fire, they told their victims: “You are those exposing our activities to security agencies. Today your days are over, as we will kill all of you.”
It would be recalled that a week ago, some youths on a volunteer mission arrested several members of the sect in Hausari, Gwange, among other areas of Maiduguri and handed them over to the JTF before they were killed.
Alau Dam is one of the biggest dams and a treatment plant that supplies water to people of Maiduguri and its environs. It also supplies vast agricultural land for irrigation for farming around the riverine areas.
Those killed included some youths of Gwange ward of the metropolis who went to Alau Dam to buy fish for their domestic consumption.
A resident of Gwange and a nieghbour to one of the victims, Mallam Mohammed Musa, said: “Yes, one of my neighbours was among the 13 people killed by suspected Boko Haram in Alau Dam on Monday. It was yesterday after Magrip prayers that the news of the killings filtered into the community. I just came to report in the office before going back home to attend the burial.”

Residents express fears

Meanwhile, some residents of Maiduguri have expressed fears over the fresh killings, and called on the security agencies to allow GSM operators resume their services after a month of total blackout.
Mallam Ibrahim Modu and Mamman Elbadawi said since the declaration of the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States, the JTF ordered the closure of all telecommunication services and the blockage of some major federal roads to tame the Boko Haram.
He added, however, that the killings of innocent people have continued unabated in the state, citing the recent Yobe and Borno killings.
A top security official who do not want his name mentioned as he was not authorized to speak, in an interview confirmed the separate attacks and killings in Borno State.
He said apart from the killing of the NECO candidates and the 13 people in Alau Dam, another female NECO official/supervisor was lynched by the suspected Boko Haram sect while on her way to administer questioneers to candidates in one of the schools in the metropolis.

Youths nab suspected  sect member

Meantime, youths in Bulumkutu area of the metropolis have captured one of the suspected Boko Haram sect member, yesterday, in their community and handed him over to the JTF.
However, irked by the arrest of dozens of their members in Borno and Yobe States in the last two weeks, members of the sect, yesterday, declared hostilities against youths in Borno and Yobe States.
The group, which said it was waging a war against the Nigerian State to establish a Sharia legal system said in addition to killing the police, soldiers, other security operatives, politicians and other symbols of authority, the group has added youths to the list of their targets for assassination.

Boko Haram declares war on youths

Our correspondent reports that angered by the lingering crises that crippled social and economic life in Borno and Yobe States as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency, hundreds of youths have organised themselves into vigilance groups, captured scores of insurgents and handed them over to security operatives.
Abu Zinnira, the acclaimed spokesman of the Boko Haram said in a statement to newsmen in Maiduguri that they will also launch manhunt of their hunters (youths) who go by the name ‘Civilian JTF.’
According to him, “we have established that youths in Borno and Yobe States are now against our course. They have connived with security operatives and are actively supporting the government of Nigeria in its war against us. We have also resolved to fight back.“

Youths promise to  fight back

However, some of the youths who promised to fight the Boko Haram insurgents in Maiduguri said they would not be deterred in carrying out their mission and there would be no going back.
One of the leaders of the youth groups said: “What the Boko Haram said is an empty threat because the time of war of terror, war of attrition and killing of innocent people with impunity is over. We, the youths have resolved to take our destiny in our hands and will continue hunting the insurgents.”