By Achadu Gabriel
Heavily armed terrorists said to be members of Boko Haram and Islamic State for West African Province (ISWAP) on Tuesday evening reportedly invaded Bwalagang village, Chibok Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno state, North-East Nigeria.
During the invasion, which was said to have occurred from about 6pm, two persons were allegedly killed while a church, identified as EYN and described as a popular worship centre in the area, as well as several houses, were razed by fighters of the terrorist groups, leaving the community virtually in ruins.
Reports claimed that one of the two dead was a father of eight children even as a cow was also hit by bullets.
One of the houses burnt
Chibok LGA is the scene of the globally-reported abduction of hundreds of school girls by Boko Haram on April 14, 2014, with many of the students,as of press time, yet to be reunited with their families over 10 years after.
Full details of the latest attack remained scanty as of the time of filing this report.
Some locals in the area, when contacted on the telephone to shed more light on the invasion, refused to be identified out of fear for their very lives at the hands of the terrorists. They, however, confirmed it, though revealed that they were in hiding.
Banditry, kidnappings and killings are a common occurrence in parts of the North-East long ravaged by terrorist activities, with the country’s military authorities addressing regular press conferences where they announce remarkable successes in the campaign to rid the zone of terrorists.
Nonetheless, an activist and indigene of the area, Rev. Kallamu Musa Ali Dikwa, who confirmed the latest invasion and killings, added that the remains of the two victims had been buried by some of their brave kinsmen who summoned courage to perform the final rites of passage on the deceased amidst fear of terrorist attacks.
Rev. Dikwa said: “The name of the village is Bwalagang and the Boko Haram terrorists burnt down almost all the village.”
He added that the church was set ablaze during the operation which lasted about an hour.
Moves to reach the Senior Special Assistant (SSA), New Media, to Borno State governor, Mr. Abdurrahman Bundi, were fruitless as he did not respond to messages forwarded to his phone over the matter.
