Boko Haram Abducts Another 20 Women Near Chibok

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have reportedly kidnapped 20 women from a nomadic settlement near Chibok in Borno State where the Islamic militants abducted 276 schoolgirls on April 15.

Only 57 of the girls have reunited with their families leaving 217 in the custody of Boko Haram. The international community led by the United States, the United Kingdom, France and China have sent military experts to support the search for the girls.

Alhaji Tar, a member of the vigilante groups set up to resist Boko Haram’s attacks, said yesterday that the men arrived at noon last Thursday in the Garkin Fulani settlement and forced the women to enter their vehicles at gunpoint. He said they drove away to an unknown location in the remote stretch of Borno state.

Tar said the group also kidnapped three young men who tried to stop the kidnapping. No group has claimed responsibility but the abduction bore all the trappings of Boko Haram.

Sources confirmed that the gunmen stormed the villages of Bakin Kogi, Garkin Fulani and Rugar Hardo along Damboa road in Chibok local government and abducted nearly 20 young women when the men were away tending to their cows in the bush.

Another source from the village said the women were evacuated from the villages in vehicles by the attackers at gunpoint .

“They came when all the able-bodied men were out with cows in the bush. They only took away young women and left the old men and women behind”, a source from the village said.

“I bet you the Fulanis are now mobilising the villages around to go and rescues their wives from the hands of the attackers and I’m sure they would bring back their wives

“We got the information that they went there and took away the women at the time none of the men were there; the three young men they met there could not help the women as the gunmen also ordered the three of them to enter the Hilux vans and took all of them away”, said Tanko.

Security agents were reluctant to speak, saying the details of the attack were still sketchy.

A local hunter Abdullahi said: “We tried to go after them when the news got to us about three hours later, but the vehicles we have could not go far and the report came to us a little bit late”.