According to a report by
AP,
Boko Haram members are turning their guns on elderly people, &
killed about 50 of them this week in a new tactic to instill more fear
in some Northern areas...
Residents from
five villages say people too elderly to flee Gwoza local government
area are being rounded up and taken to two schools where the militants
open fire on them. The villages are about 130 kilometers (80 miles)
southeast of Maiduguri, in Borno
"What
they are doing now is to assemble the aged people - both men and women
... and then they just open fire on some of them," said Muhammed Gava, a
spokesman for civil defense groups in the area.
More than 50 people had
been killed at Government Day Secondary School in Gwoza, he said.
A
villager who had fled said more elderly people are being gathered and
shot at Uvaghe Central Primary School. The villager spoke on condition
of anonymity for fear of endangering his trapped parents.
Government officials did not immediately comment on the reports.
Nigeria's
military said soldiers are patrolling "in search of terrorists" and "to
verify abductions" Friday around the village of Gumburi, where
witnesses say extremists kidnapped at least 185 people a week ago.
Nigeria's
military and government have been criticized for their failure to
rescue 219 schoolgirls kidnapped from a town near Gumburi in April.
In
separate attacks Friday, witnesses said Boko Haram struck at Damagum
and Mamudo towns in Yobe state, bombing government buildings, the police
station and military barracks.
The
extremists suffered a setback when they attacked soldiers guarding a
power station in Borno state, according to an engineer who spoke on
condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. He said soldiers were
warned in advance that the extremists were advancing and engaged the
militants in fierce fighting that killed at least 70.
Extremists have killed thousands of people in a 5-year uprising that has driven some 1.6 million from their homes.
Written by Haruna Umar for AP
