Suspected Boko Haram terrorists have killed a senior pastor of the Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN) in Tarfa community, Biu Local Government Area of Borno State, along with four other residents.
The insurgents reportedly attacked the community around 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, firing sporadically into the air, displacing dozens of residents and setting many houses and shops ablaze.
An anonymous resident, who said he was also a victim of the attack, told our correspondent, “The attackers stormed the community on motorcycles and operated for two hours without resistance from the military and other security agencies in the council area of the state.”
Confirming the incident in a telephone interview on Friday in Maiduguri, the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Borno State chapter, Most Reverend John Bakeni, said, “No fewer than five residents were killed in the evening attack, including our pastor, Musa Umaru.”
Bakeni further stated, “It is true that there was an attack yesterday evening on the village, known as Tarfa.
“I was just informed that five persons were killed, including the EYN pastor, who had been living in the attacked community for over a decade.”
Speaking further on the incident, the cleric said, “I was just informed that five people were killed including the EYN pastor,” lamenting that the entire village was razed, with vehicles belonging to residents burnt.
An eyewitness also confirmed that many members of the community fled Tarfa following the Thursday evening attack.
“It was a devastating attack. They stormed the community en masse and set houses ablaze, including shops and a church,” the source, who preferred to remain anonymous, said.
The source appealed to the military and other security agencies to protect communities on the fringes of the Sambisa Forest.
“We are under threat. They killed five people including Pastor Evangelist Musa Umoru,” he lamented.
He added, “As I speak to you, I have left Tarfa. We need the intervention of the Federal and State governments to save lives and property in the affected council areas.”