Boko Haram militants invade Borno market, kill scores of Traders

Some members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect on Friday attacked a Borno market, killing scores of traders, a military source revealed.

He claimed that the insurgents who were looking for food to build their depleted stock invaded Mainok market, about 56 kilometres from Maiduguri on Friday afternoon, carting away foodstuffs and money belonging to the traders they killed.

A Maiduguri resident, John Ibe, who was travelling along the Maiduguri-Damaturu road at about 1.30pm, said the hoodlums invaded the busy market around that time.

He said, “I boarded a luxury bus from Lagos and when we got to Mainok at exactly 1.30pm, we heard heavy gunshots from the western part of the market and then sporadic gunshots. Hundreds of traders and residents fled the market in confusion, running to cross the highway to the other side while vehicles passing through the town were also making attempts to flee the town. There was so much confusion.”


He said many fleeing traders were knocked down on the road by motorists in the midst of the confusion that ensued, adding to the death toll.

He claimed to have seen many fleeing residents bleeding after being knocked down by the speeding vehicles.

“Vehicles were hitting one another and the Boko Haram members kept shooting,” he added.

A security personnel who also travelled on the road yesterday disclosed that the attackers first fired Rapid Propelled Grenade into the middle of the market before they started firing gunshots.

“The death toll may be high because there were many people in the market,” the personnel who did not want to be named, said