The senator representing Borno South, Sen. Ali Ndume, on Wednesday told a townhall meeting how Boko Haram insurgents killed 93 people in his home town of Gwoza in a single day.
“Even as a serving senator, I still cannot go to Gwoza my home town because it is not safe. I need army escort because it is not safe,” Ndume told a townhall meeting organised by the Senate committee on special duties and the North East Development Commission (NEDC) in Maiduguri.
The dead, he said, include 75 elders – 73 of whom were taken into an abbattoir and slaughtered, and another 20 almajirai near his home were shot dead.
The town came under heavy Boko Haram attack in 2014, with hundreds killed.
Militants dressed as soldiers had invaded and killed hundreds in four villages in Gwoza.
A delegation led by Senator Yusuf Yusuf, and including Ndume, is reviewing the activities of NEDC and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the northeast region.
“I came from Gwoza, in Gwoza there were elders, my elders 75 of them that I know all of them, one day in the morning they were dragged and taken to abattoir in Gwoza and they were slaughtered one after the other, two of them survived because of blood covered them and the Boko Haram thought they were dead that is how they survived.
“Malam Durubu is my neighbour, 20 of his Almajirai were shot and killed in a day, I can still remember their house, I can remember vividly 20 of them were lied down and shots dead randomly.These were just some stand out cases, I don’t want to continue pleased.
He continued: “Our security agencies are trying their efforts, and we have to give it to them. But the situation is overwhelming and worrisome. People are dying every day, either by hunger or attacks from insurgents. We have lost many lives here.”
