Boko Haram continues violence in Borno and Yobe

The Islamist terror group Boko Haram has destroyed churches in southern Borno State a day after suicide attacks on mosques in Yobe State claimed at least 13 lives.

According to local sources, Boko Haram gunmen stormed Kwajaffa, Tashan Alade and other communities in the predominantly Christian Hawul Local Government Area (LGA) of southern Borno State on the evening of 30 July, attacking at least five churches with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and petrol bombs and razing them to the ground. No lives are reported to have been lost in the attack, which was the second on Hawul LGA in less than a week. On the evening of 26 July, sect members murdered two people in the Shaffa District of Hawul LGA who had fled to the area following a series of attacks on Damboa LGA between 25 June and 18 July that claimed the lives of the Commanding Officer of 195 Battalion a Divisional Police Officer (DPO), 5 policemen 16 soldiers, and many civilians. According to eyewitnesses, the gunmen beheaded both victims, placing their severed heads on their chests before leaving.

On 29 July, at least 13 people died and several were injured in two separate suicide bombings in neighbouring Yobe State. The first occurred at a centre belonging to the Izala sect and was detonated just as prayer was commencing. The second bomber targeted a mosque attached to the family home of Potiskum’s Chief Imam. A day earlier, Boko Haram gunmen had stormed Katarko Town in Yobe State, killing at least eight people and abducting Muslim cleric Sheriff Ali, his wife and two other people.

Suicide bombings appear to be re-emerging as a favoured tactic, including the sinister and new component of attacks by young female bombers. Kano State has witnessed four such attacks in less than a week, the last occurring on 30 July, when a girl aged around 18 detonated a device at the Islamic Legal Studies College in Kano State Polytechnic, killing 16 students as they checked a noticeboard. Also on 30 July, police in Funtua Town, Katsina State, police arrested two suspected Boko Haram members travelling with a 10 year old girl who was wearing a suicide explosives belt.

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), said: “We extend our heartfelt condolences to those who have lost loved ones in these appalling attacks. Boko Haram continues to commit war crimes by wilfully destroying churches and pursing a relentless campaign of religious cleansing against Christian communities in southern Borno. Moreover, the sect has illustrated once again its disregard for every religion and for the sanctity of human life, not only by targeting the innocent as they pray, but also by indoctrinating vulnerable girls for use as disposable commodities to fulfil its murderous purposes. Nigerians must put aside all religious, political and other divisions and unite in the national interest to overcome this destructive terrorist sect as a matter of urgency.”

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Matthew Jones, Public Affairs Team Leader at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 7826 938 360, or email matthewjones@csw.org.uk.