Elders and people of Gwoza Local Government Council Area of Borno State, in the North-East, Nigeria, on Saturday dismissed claims that Christians and Muslims in Gwoza East took up arms against each other.
They said that they were under attack by the Islamic militants, Boko Haram.
According to them, the group which laid siege on four wards in Gwoza East, killed innocent people at will.
The elders and residents, who gathered for a meeting at the residence of the Senator representing Borno-South Senatorial District, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume said they buried over 144 people within one week, while hundreds of corpses littered the streets waiting for proper burial.
According to them, the corpses could not be burried because the insurgents laid siege on their villages.
Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, who spoke on behalf of the people said there was no religious divide in their commitment to fighting Boko Haram insurgency.
Ndume said Gwoza-East is under siege by the Boko Haram insurgents and there is no presence of any security operative in the area.
“As we speak, we made several pleay to the military to go and secure the areas so that we can go there and bury our dead.
“They said they were doing something about it. We appreciate helicopters going round in some places and throwing bombs on the insurgents, but we need soldiers on ground so that our people can go and bury those corpses of our relatives that are still there littering the whole place. This is very important to us”.
Speaking on the number of people that managed to escape and are now taking refuge in the state, an indigene of the area and Commissioner for Tourism in Borno State, Dr. Asabe Vilita Bashir said they have a record of 1,290 displaced persons from Gwoza, who are taking refuge in three places.
According to Dr. Bashir, 426 persons are taking refuge in EYN Church Wulari, 50 people are in Molai General Hospital and 814 persons are in Tashan Bama.
Also speaking on the number of casualties, both village heads of Attagara Lawan John Gula and Lawan Abba Kaka said before they escaped, 42 people were buried at Attagara village, 24 in Agajara, 4 in Angurva, 20 in Agapalwa, 1 in Amuda, 3 in Alavawa, 13 in Chinene, 3 in Arboko, 1 in Ashigashiya, 1 in Ngoshe and 32 in Kirawa.
According to them, those who are still in the villages called and informed them just as the meeting was going on that the Islamic militants, Boko Haram have stormed Palawa and Amuda villages killing innocent people.
They said many of the villagers are running to the mountains hoping to see the next day.
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