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.
Written by Haruna Umar for AP
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