55 killed in Boko Haram attack on Bama

Boko Haram members

Suspected members of Islamist sect, Boko Haram, on Tuesday, attacked Bama, Borno State, leaving 55 people  dead, the Joint Military Task Force said on Tuesday.

The gunmen, according to Reuters, killed 22 police officers, 14 prison officials, two soldiers and four civilians, while 13 of the sect’s members died in the clash with the task force members.

Spokesman for the JTF, Sagir Musa, confirmed this to Reuters.

The suspected terrorists were said to have  freed 105 prison inmates during the attack which reportedly began at around 5am.

The JTF, which took journalists to Bama to assess the damage caused by the terrorists, added that three children and one woman, were among those killed during the multiple attacks in the town.

Sources in the town claimed that about 300 suspected members of Boko Haram stormed the town, first attacking the  200 Tank Battallion, a military Barracks.

The suspected terrorists were, however,  repelled by  soldiers, who  killed several insurgents who were forced to retreat with the corpses of their members.

They were unable to take away 10 of their members’ bodies.

One other member, who was injured, was  tied to the stake when the JTF and journalists visited.

Bama’s police station, military barracks and government buildings were razed, an eyewitness in Bama said.

Bama is a small, remote town in northeastern Borno State, where Boko Haram first began its uprising in 2009.

Meanwhile, Senate Joint Committee investigating the Baga massacre  on Tuesday visited Maiduguri, Borno State capital, en-route the site of the tragedy.

Our correspondent learnt that members of three standing committees of the Senate namely: Police Affairs, Defence, National Security and Intelligence, were in the state on a fact-finding mission.

The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Inuwa Bwala, confirmed this in a telephone interview.

“Members of the committee are here. They just arrived Maiduguri. We are going into a meeting that is all I can tell you for now,” Bwala said.

PUNCH