The Boko Haram sect has reportedly abducted over 20 girls in Lassa, a town in Borno State.
Quoting a member of the community, Daniel Ibrahim, SaharaReporters stated that the Boko Haram sect also killed many people, mostly old men and women, before they kidnapped the women.
SaharaReporters also stated that a security source confirmed the report.
“They [Boko Haram] abducted more than 20 girls from our town and killed many people, mostly old men and women,” the online medium quoted Ibrahim.
Ibrahim, who said he survived the attack, revealed that the insurgents had been advancing toward Lassa since late November but had met stiff resistance from local fighters until Wednesday.
He said the insurgents attacked the town last Wednesday with a variety of heavy weaponry, including tanks and explosives. They were finally able to overwhelm the local opposition and capture the town.
“They burnt almost half of the town before they left. Those of us who were lucky fled, but they massacred aged ones and the younger men they could catch,” the source stated.
He said the town fell to the insurgents because the residents’ appeals to security agencies to deploy more troops and to step up land and air operations were ignored.
“That’s why the town is now in the hands of Boko Haram,” he said.
A senior military officer attached to the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army based in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, confirmed that the military was aware of the development in Lassa.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has said that Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, has been thrown into complete blackout as a result of the activities of the Boko Haram sect.
Government said the major power substation that supplied electricity to the city had been blown off by the sect on more than one occasion.
Minister of State for Power, Mr. Mohammed Wakil, said engineers from the Transmission Company of Nigeria had fixed the substation and other vandalised installations in the past, adding that the military had advised the ministry to refrain from visiting the area as it was a “danger zone.”
The minister spoke to journalists in Abuja.
He said, “If you can recall clearly you will know that the first local government they (Boko Haram) took over was Damboa. That is my local government. Now because of the crossfire they had with the battalion, they ended up in not only vandalising some of the power installations in the region but they also burnt the major substation in that city.
“That substation in Damboa is one of the biggest substations in the North and it links Gombe with Maiduguri. That led to the collapse of power in Maiduguri and the city is in blackout. I summoned the TCN and talked to them that they must restore power in the area. The TCN mobilised its team and were ready, but that area is a danger zone.”
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