Members of a community-based organisation in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State, Kibaku Area Development Association, (KADA), on Wednesday, cried out over the escalated attacks on them by Boko Haram insurgents bent on laying the towns desolate. They said the terror attacks, which had been affecting the area since 2014, had intensified and would worsen if nothing was done urgently to contain it.

The spokesperson of the community, Allen Manasseh, in a statement, decried the recurrence and extent of the attacks on Chibok Communities, stating that on the eve of Christmas, a key farming Community of Pemi was attacked, in which seven people were killed by the terrorists. He revealed that many other communities in the area have been attacked over 69 times with 299 deaths, many houses, churches, and vehicles razed by the insurgents. Manasseh stated that the residents had made several attempts at getting serious governmental attention to tame the activities of those terrorizing them, but the efforts had not paid off in the past six years.

He said, “The frequency and magnitude of attacks on the Chibok Communities have become recurrent with attendant serious loss of lives and properties.

“We as a people have been calling for serious governmental attention to tame the activities of the terrorists in the North East region, but have not seen appreciable efforts from the side of the Government to ensure lives and properties are saved.

“On the eve of Christmas, our key farming Community of Pemi was attacked, in which we lost seven lives and two abducted till date, with Churches, and many houses raised down by the assailants – Terrorists. This happened in less than three weeks within which Takulashi village was attacked where 13 people were killed, nine people were abducted, 53 houses, two churches, and four vehicles burnt down.

“We demand an adequate response from the President of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria to act presidential in solving the security situation in Chibok.”

The group also said that since 2014 there have not been any updates from the Nigerian Government about the situation of the remaining 112 Chibok girls still in captivity against all its promises to rescue them.

“We therefore in the same vein with Dapchi schoolgirls and Kankara Schoolboys, demand that the remaining of our Chibok School daughters should be brought back in (the) quickest time possible,” the statement added. Manasseh said aside from the 122 Chibok girls still missing, there have been many other reported and unreported abduction, destructions, and looting of properties, especially foodstuff.

“Amongst our communities that were attacked, some severally and serially with no resistance or precautionary measures of our government includes Chibok town, Bwalakila, Takulashi, Kwople, Kwaranglum, Kautikari, Gatamwarwa, Thlaimakalama, Mifa, Kakilmari, Bwaftari, Kwada. “Others are Kaumutahyahi, Kuburmbula, Mifa, Paya yesu Bila Maburdar, Yimirmugza, Mbulabam, Gagilam, Piying, Mboa-Kura, Ntsiha A, B, C; and many other locations too numerous to capture in a single statement.

“Some have been attacked over 10 times with our locals and the few security forces, ensuring the towns are not laid desolate and turned ghost towns.”

He expressed noted the efforts of the security forces working to protect the communities but lamented that their numerical strengths and promptness to respond and ensure extermination of the terrorists have not met expectations.

“We are, therefore, constrained to demands for more efforts and possible review/change in the strategy (and) complete change of approach in the prosecution of the war on terror. Having spent this long time with fewer results of the deliverables, there may be the need to ensure (a) complete overhaul of the security architecture to ensure we (achieve) attach timelines on our deliverables of securing the people and their properties.

“We are 100% agrarian communities with nearly zero government presence in terms of social amenities. We are farming against all odds to survive, but each year, during the peak harvest period, we do experience escalation of terrorism on our people and we have had enough. “We are calling on the government like never before, to ensure our people are protected, our properties saved. We cannot be farming against threats to our lives only for the insurgent to freely come and loot our agricultural commodities,” he said. (Vanguard)

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