Boko Haram kills 8 Church worshippers near Chibok

Boko Haram kills 8 Church worshippers near Chibok

Some suspected Boko Haram members on Sunday afternoon opened fire on a group of persons outside a church in Kwamjilari, a village few kilometres from Chibok in Borno State, an official and a witness have said .

The gunmen, according to an operative of the local vigilante group in Borno State, succeeded in killing eight people who were said to be on their way home after a church service.

Kwamjilari is about 19km from Chibok, a local government headquarters in Borno State.

A resident of Chibok, who spoke to journalists on phone but wished not to be named for safety reasons, said many of the attacked villagers ran to Chibok on Sunday afternoon.

“It was a sad incident in Kwamjilari village,” he said. “The gunmen who invaded the village on motorbikes opened fire on the people as they returned home after the Sunday church service. Eight people were killed according to the villagers.”

The bodies of the deceased persons were buried on Monday.

The police and have not reacted to the latest attack. But an operative of the local vigilante group in Maiduguri, Malam Musa, confirmed the attack.

The attack occurs one week after the terrorists released a video showing hundreds of people whom they called their members praying during the Islamic festival, Eid-el-Kabir.

In the video, the insurgents threatened more attacks and claimed they were not losing the war against the Nigerian military.

The military has discountenanced the video and described it as adulterated.

While the military continues to reclaim territory from the insurgents, the federal government has indicated willingness to do a prisoner swap with the sect in order to free the over 200 kidnapped Chibok secondary school girls.