Boko Haram Kidnaps Nine in Borno

5 females of the same family have been abducted by members of the Boko Haram sect in the northeastern part of the country just as the military assures the people of safety.

 

Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram leader

 

Boko Haram jihadists have kidnapped nine people in two separate attacks in which one person was killed and two injured in Nigeria’s volatile northeast, vigilantes said Tuesday.

 

Five members of a family were kidnapped along a highway, 50 kilometres (30 miles) outside the city of Maiduguri as they waited for their car to be fixed on Tuesday, they said.

 

“Five members of a family were abducted today near the town of Dikwa by Boko Haram terrorists,” Babakura Kolo, a member of a militia fighting Boko Haram told a reporter.

“The hostages included a woman, her three young daughters and sister,” he said.

 

Another militia member Ibrahim Liman gave a similar account, saying the victims were heading to Maiduguri under a military escort when their car broke down and was forced to stop.

 

“While the driver of the vehicle was trying to fix the car, Boko Haram terrorists appeared from the bush and seized them,” Liman said.

 

He said the driver however managed to escape. The 83-kilometre Maiduguri-Gubio highway reopened to motorists last December two years after it was closed following regular jihadist attacks.

 

The highway was reopened following military successes against Boko Haram which saw the jihadists losing territory. However, the group continues to launch sporadic attacks on motorists without military escorts.

 

Tuesday’s attack came a day after four farmers were abducted by the Islamists near the town of Konduga, 38 kilometres from Maiduguri, said Kolo.

 

He said one person was killed and two others injured in the incident. The victims were among a group of 20 farmers from nearby Tori village who went to their farms “against military advice”, added militia member Musa Ari.

 

Konduga has been repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram Islamists. In May the jihadists killed six farmers as they worked in Amarwa village in the Konduga area.