No fewer than seven persons were killed on Sunday in Takulashe village, in the Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State.

The victims were said to be members of Civilian Joint Task Force and local hunters, who engaged Boko Haram insurgents that laid siege to the village.

A resident of Chibok, Mr Jacob Shagari, told our correspondent on the telephone that the terrorists stormed Takulashe around 9am and broke into homes to steal foodstuffs and livestock.

Shagari said the terrorists were engaged by members of the civilian JTF and local hunters.

He said at the end of the engagement, which took about an hour, seven men believed to be civilian JTF members and local hunters were killed.

He added that although it was believed that the insurgents also had some casualties, no one could ascertain the number because they took away the corpses of their men.

Also, a member of the CJTF, who declined identification said, “Seven dead bodies have so far been recovered. We are still searching (around 5pm on Sunday). The insurgents carted away foodstuffs and livestock.”

Attempt to confirm the incident from both the police and military authorities were unsuccessful as of the time of filing the report as spokesmen for both agencies had yet to respond to enquiries.

Similarly, five civilians have been killed by insurgents, who also burned down a market and houses in another attack in the Damboa Local Government Area of the state.

The attack, which was the third in eight days, also saw farmlands razed down and happened on Friday while the villagers were at the mosque for Juma’at service.

According to sources, who spoke exclusively to one of our correspondents, the insurgents sneaked into Kauji community and headed straight for the house of a late orthopaedist, but did not meet anyone there, adding that it was in the process of escaping that they met the crowd coming back from the Juma’at prayer and opened fire on the worshippers.

The source stated, “They went to the house of a late orthopaedist when we were at the Juma’at mosque. They saw a young boy and fired at him; the people at the mosque heard the gunshot and took to their heels. It was in the process of escaping that the Boko Haram fighters shot four other civilians, who were also escaping.

“Not done, the fighters headed for a nearby village, set farmlands on fire, burnt down the village’s market and set several other houses.

“When they escaped from Kauji, they headed for Hyuahyua, a nearby village, and burnt their farm produce that had yet to be harvested. They went into the village’s market and set more than 20 shops on fire in addition to several houses.”

It was learnt that the insurgents fled the communities when an air force fighter jet was closing in on them, while the villagers were seen leaving their homes to more secure towns in the locality.

Punch