Boko Haram Now Sell Seized Goats To Raise Money For Fuel

From the survivor of Boko Haram
attack on a Borno town came the
startling revelation that Boko Haram
insurgents were selling goats and
other livestock seized from owners
during series of attacks on the
communities to buy petrol.
“They took away our goats, chicken
and other livestock after attack on
Kukawa and other neighbouring
villages. They also seized our
property, claiming Allah has
bestowed these things to them.
But when people started returning
to Kukawa before the start of Rama­
dan, Boko Haram men started
selling the goats, chicken and some
of the items back to people who
were even the original owners in
the first place.
They said they were raising money
to buy petrol to fuel their vehicles
and motorcycles because petrol was
being sold for N1,000 a litre in
Kukawa before the last attack
(Wednesday),” Danladi Umar who
fled the troubled Kukawa town,
north of Borno following the
Wednesday Boko Haram attack
disclosed to Sunday Sun.
A group of Boko Haram insurgents
last Wednesday launched
coordinated attacks on Kukawa, a
serene community around the Lake
Chad bordering Niger.
Sources said residents; mostly
peasant farmers and fishermen, had
barely assembled in the major
mosques for the break of the
Muslim fast when the armed men
came to unleash terror on them.
“They rounded up people in
mosques and opened fire on them.
They also pursued those trying to
escape and shot them. About 97
people were killed while the
insurgents also set fire on houses,”
one of the sources disclosed.
But Danladi who appeared famished
shortly after arriving Maiduguri
following two days of trekking in the
bush, said the casualty figure was
higher, insisting that about 120
people were massacred.
“It is more than 97, there are corpses
everywhere, about 120 people may
have died.
The insurgents burnt many houses
and wrecked havoc in Kukawa,” he
said. He said an historical tree in the
town was cut off following heavy
shooting by Boko Haram.
He said life has gradually returned
to Kukawa, about 192 kilometres to
Maiduguri, after the February
repeated attacks in the area and
Baga, a neighbouring commercial
community, until the group struck
last Wednesday.
He said many children who had
gathered at a place where women
fry and sell bean-cake were caught
up in the sporadic gunshots. “Most
of the women and children at a
place where bean-cake are sold
were shot dead.
The women were frying bean-cake
and selling pap to those willing to
use it to break their fast since the
time for breaking of fast was
approaching.
Some of the children were also
there to buy bean-cake. Kukawa, an
historical town, north of Borno, was
reported to be the place where the
first Shehu of Borno received two
British Explorers to the Bornu
Empire in 1822 and 1834
respectively.
Source: SunNews