Thursday, 13 February 2014
Gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko haram sect on Tuesday attacked Konduga town in Borno State, leaving n0 fewer
than 53 persons dead. They also abducted 25 teenage girls and set fire on many houses in the town.
Konduga is a town along Maiduguri-Bama Road and is about 40 kilometres from the state capital, Maiduguri.
The gunmen attacked the only hospital in the town, abducted the medical doctor and carted away drugs and medical equipment.
The town’s central mosque, the palace of the district head, the market and the Abba Ashigar School of Business and Administrative Studies were set ablaze.
Residents of the town who survived the attack claimed that over 100 people were killed during the attack, adding that many corpses were still in the bush surrounding the community.
The Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, who visited the town on Wednesday, broke down in tears during the funeral prayer organised for 33 victims of the attack.
It was learnt that few hours before Shettima’s arrival at the town, 18 corpses had already been buried at the Madarari area of Konduga.
Some corpses were seen unattended to on the streets.
Residents were also seen fleeing the troubled town when the governor visited.
The insurgents were alleged to have torched about 80 per cent of the buildings in the town during Tuesday attack that eyewitnesses said lasted between 4pm and 8pm.
The insurgents, who were over 200, according to eyewitnesses, stormed the town at 4pm in 39 Toyota Hilux vehicles, armed with sophisticated weapons including rocket propelled grenades (RPGS), assault rifles and explosive devices.
