At least ten people were killed in a Boko Haram attack on the Christian village of Pemi in Nigeria’s Borno state on Christmas Eve.
“They killed 10 people and burnt homes, shops and churches, said Sani Mohammed, head of an anti-jihadist militia.
Earlier reports had the death toll at seven.
“Boko Haram attacked Pemi village, killed seven people and abducted another seven, including a pastor,” Kachallah Usman, secretary of the Chibok local government area, told CNN on Friday.
Pemi village is situated roughly 20 kilometers from Chibok, where Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls six years ago.
Liah Sharibu was one among the 276 Christian girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram on February 2018. The other girls except Liah were released after a month. Boko Haram refused to let Liah free because she refused to abandon her faith and convert to Islam while in their custody. pic.twitter.com/aaXsp2Srgy
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) December 28, 2020
In the local Hausa dialect, Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden,” it is believed the village was targeted because of its connection to the western religion.
The terrorist group appears to have ramped up its efforts over the past month.
Hundreds of Nigerian schoolboys were freed after being kidnapped by the jihadist terrorist group Boko Haram last week. Governor Aminu Bello Masari addressed the nation via its state channel NTA. He said that a total of 344 boys had been freed but did not know whether all of the kidnapped boys had been liberated. “We have recovered most of the boys. It’s not all of them,” Masari asserted.
Ten (10) people, including four security personnel, were reportedly killed on boxing day during an attack by Boko Haram in Shaffa, Azare and Tashan Alade villages in Hawul local government area of Borno State, northeast Nigeria. pic.twitter.com/BKn85oJGJb
— Pilgrimage_2019 (@Pilgrimage_2019) December 28, 2020
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the mass abduction.
On Sunday, three loggers were found dead and at least 40 more feared abducted in northeastern Nigeria.
“A group of more than 40 loggers left Shehuri on the outskirts of Gamboru on Thursday and never returned by evening as usual,” said a group leader Umar Kachalla, per Al Jazeera. “On Friday, we mobilised men and went deep into the forest where we recovered three bodies identified to be among the loggers, without a trace of their colleagues.”
