Boko Haram terrorist are suspected of killing around 40 people in Gurokayeya village in Yobe State’s Gaidam Local Government Area.
While the Boko Haram terrorists killed 20 people on Monday, another 20 were slain on Tuesday by an explosive device believed to have been set by the militants.
Residents blamed the executions by the Boko Haram terrorists on the community’s farmers’ unwillingness to pay rebel taxes on their produce.
“The insurgents stormed the village between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., called out the residents, gathered them at the outskirts, and opened fire on them,” a native told our correspondent on the phone on Wednesday.
“Over 17 people died on the spot on Monday. The other 20 were among those who drove from Gaidam and neighbouring villages to the affected village for the burial of the first 20 on Tuesday.
“When they were driving back home, their vehicle drove over an explosive planted by the insurgents; 10 died on the spot, and about 10 died at the Gaidam Primary Health Care Centre, where they were rushed to after the accident.”
Dungus Abdulkarim, a spokesman for the Yobe State Police Command, verified the two incidents.
“The gunmen (he would not call them insurgents until the conclusion of investigations) stormed Gurokayaye village at about 11 p.m. on Monday, October 30, and opened fire, which resulted in the killing of the village head and between 17 and 20 others,” Abdulkarim said.
“Two of those who sustained severe injuries are now receiving treatment at the Gaidam PHC, and two others are now at the Yobe State University Teaching Hospital, Damaturu.
“At about 7.30 pm on Tuesday, October 31, the people, who had converged on the village for the burial of those killed, drove over a landmine, and 20 people died as a result,” the Yobe police spokesman said.
He described the village as an enclave of Boko Haram insurgents, revealing that forces had even designated the region as a ‘no-go area.’
Abdulkarim explained the incidents to reporters, saying they were retaliatory strikes by suspected Boko Haram rebels.
“You know, this is harvest time, and the insurgents are used to going around the farming communities, collecting Jizya (farm produce tax). Recently, they stormed the Tarmuwa axis of the state in this tax collection round.
“Following information revealed by the locals, security agents stormed the locality and engaged the unsuspecting insurgents in a serious gunfire exchange, as a result of which two of the gunmen were killed and four were arrested, as many escaped with gun wounds.
“So, in reprisal, the gunmen descended on Gurokayaye village in Gaidam LGA, where they killed the people I have just told you.”
