According to a report by AP , Boko Haram
members are turning their guns on elderly
people, & killed about 50 of them this
week in a new tactic to instill more fear in
some Northern areas...
Residents from five villages say people
too elderly to flee Gwoza local
government area are being rounded up
and taken to two schools where the
militants open fire on them. The villages
are about 130 kilometers (80 miles)
southeast of Maiduguri, in Borno
"What they are doing now is to assemble
the aged people - both men and women ...
and then they just open fire on some of
them," said Muhammed Gava, a
spokesman for civil defense groups in the
area.
More than 50 people had been killed at
Government Day Secondary School in
Gwoza, he said.
A villager who had fled said more elderly
people are being gathered and shot at
Uvaghe Central Primary School. The
villager spoke on condition of anonymity
for fear of endangering his trapped
parents.
Government officials did not immediately
comment on the reports.
Nigeria's military said soldiers are
patrolling "in search of terrorists" and "to
verify abductions" Friday around the
village of Gumburi, where witnesses say
extremists kidnapped at least 185 people
a week ago.
Nigeria's military and government have
been criticized for their failure to rescue
219 schoolgirls kidnapped from a town
near Gumburi in April.
In separate attacks Friday, witnesses said
Boko Haram struck at Damagum and
Mamudo towns in Yobe state, bombing
government buildings, the police station
and military barracks.
The extremists suffered a setback when
they attacked soldiers guarding a power
station in Borno state, according to an
engineer who spoke on condition of
anonymity for fear of reprisals. He said
soldiers were warned in advance that the
extremists were advancing and engaged
the militants in fierce fighting that killed at
least 70.
Extremists have killed thousands of
people in a 5-year uprising that has
driven some 1.6 million from their homes.
