Terrorists kill soldier, civilian, abduct 25 in Borno

Boko Haram terrorists killed a soldier and a civilian and abducted 25 other people during a reported ambush of a civilian convoy in Gwoza, Borno State this week.

According to a report by AFP, a security source disclosed that the attack happened around 3 pm on Tuesday, September 4, 2018.

The deceased victims were killed in a brief shoot-out that ensued when the terrorists attacked the civilian convoy which was under military escort and was headed for Maiduguri, the state capital.

A civilian militia leader, Ibrahim Liman, told AFP, "A soldier and a civilian were killed in the ambush and a bus carrying around 25 people was taken away."

A military source also confirmed the attack, saying, "We lost a soldier and a civilian in the attack. We are not sure of the exact number of the abducted passengers but they are more than 20."

A Maiduguri resident from Gwoza, Gideon Buba, disclosed that his priest, who was caught in the ambush attack, reported that the terrorists seized one vehicle after a brief firefight.

He said, "He told us that the bus behind his was the one taken. The gunmen opened fire in the middle of the convoy but the vehicles managed to escape. Some made it through while others returned, but one was seized by the gunmen who took it inside the forest."

Boko Haram menace

Since the insurgency of the terrorist group escalated after a 2009 crackdown by the military, Boko Haram, chiefly under Abubakar Shekau'sleadership, has been responsible for the death of over 20,000 people and the displacement of more than 2.5 million scattered across Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps across the country and its neighbours.

After a massive military operation resulted in the displacement of the group from its Camp Zairo base in the infamous Sambisa Forest, it has resorted to suicide bomb attacks on soft targets and carried out daring attacks on military bases, with hundreds of captives still unaccounted for.