Boko Haram Sells Seized Goats To Raise Money For Fuel

From the survivor of Boko Haram attack
on a Borno town came the startling
revelation that Boko Haram insurgents
were selling goats and other livestock
seized from owners during series of
attacks on the communities to buy pet­
rol.
“They took away our goats, chicken and
other livestock after attack on Kukawa
and other neighbouring villages. They
also seized our property, claiming Allah
has bestowed these things to them.
But when people started returning to Ku­
kawa before the start of Ramadan, Boko
Haram men started selling the goats,
chicken and some of the items back to
people who were even the original
owners in the first place.
They said they were raising money to
buy petrol to fuel their vehicles and
motorcycles because petrol was being
sold for N1,000 a litre in Kukawa before
the last attack (Wednesday),” Danladi
Umar who fled the troubled Kukawa
town, north of Borno following the
Wednesday Boko Haram attack disclosed
to Sunday Sun.
A group of Boko Haram insurgents last
Wednesday launched coordinated attacks
on Kukawa, a serene community around
the Lake Chad bordering Niger.
Sources said residents; mostly peasant
farmers and fishermen, had barely
assembled in the major mosques for the
break of the Muslim fast when the armed
men came to unleash terror on them.
“They rounded up people in mosques
and opened fire on them. They also
pursued those trying to escape and shot
them. About 97 people were killed while
the insurgents also set fire on houses,”
one of the sources disclosed.
But Danladi who appeared famished
shortly after arriving Maiduguri
following two days of trekking in the
bush, said the casualty figure was higher,
insisting that about 120 people were
massacred.
“It is more than 97, there are corpses
everywhere, about 120 people may have
died.
The insurgents burnt many houses and
wrecked havoc in Kukawa,” he said. He
said an historical tree in the town was
cut off following heavy shooting by Boko
Haram.
He said life has gradually returned to
Kukawa, about 192 kilometres to
Maiduguri, after the February repeated
attacks in the area and Baga, a
neighbouring commercial community,
until the group struck last Wednesday.
He said many children who had gathered
at a place where women fry and sell
bean-cake were caught up in the spo­
radic gunshots. “Most of the women and
children at a place where bean-cake are
sold were shot dead.
The women were frying bean-cake and
selling pap to those willing to use it to
break their fast since the time for
breaking of fast was approaching.
Some of the children were also there to
buy bean-cake. Kukawa, an historical
town, north of Borno, was reported to be
the place where the first Shehu of Borno
received two British Explorers to the
Bornu Empire in 1822 and 1834
respectively.
Source: SunNews