President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed shock over Tuesday’s mass killing by suspected Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists in a Borno village which resulted in the death of 81 residents.
The deadly raid on Faduma Kolomdi village left 13 persons injured with seven others, including the village head abducted while 400 cows were rustled.
Governor Babagana Zulum made this known on Wednesday during a visit to the nomadic settlement which is 120 kilometres north of Maiduguri, the state capital.
The attack came days after Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, met with President Buhari in Abuja and briefed him on the ‘successes’ the army have made against insurgents in the last few months.
Reacting to Tuesday’s incident, President Buhari said in a statement released by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, on Wednesday, that “he is deeply shocked by the brutal killing of tens of people by the Boko Haram/Islam in West Africa Province (ISWAP) in Gubio village, Borno State.”
The president, who said he was expecting a detailed briefing by the Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, said he was particularly shocked by the “primordial nature of the killings” because it happened “not long after the Ramadhan and Eid, and the country is preparing to celebrate the Democracy Day.”
Condemning the incident, Mr Buhari charged the armed forces “to sustain their recent string of successes against the terrorists to extract a heavy price from the attackers, and bring back all those they kidnapped as well as a large number of cattle rustled.”
Mr Shehu said the president “expressed the sincere condolences of the government and people of Nigeria to the bereaved families, communities and the government and people of Borno State.”
The president, according to the statement, awaits the outcome of the Borno governor’s visit to the affected communities.
Read full statement below:
STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
PRESIDENT BUHARI CONDEMNS BOKO HARAM PRIMORDIAL KILLINGS, CHARGES MILITARY TO EXTRACT HEAVY PRICE FROM TERRORISTS
As news of one the most brutal terrorist attacks on innocent people emerged from the Northeast, President Muhammadu Buhari said he is deeply shocked by the brutal killing of tens of people by the Boko Haram/Islam in West Africa Province (ISWAP) in Gubio village, Borno State.
The President, who was expecting a detailed briefing by the Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum on the outcome of his visit to the affected communities, said the “primordial nature of the killings is particularly shocking because it happened not long after the Ramadhan and Eid, and the country is preparing to celebrate the Democracy Day.”
In condemning the incident, President Buhari charged the armed forces to sustain their recent string of successes against the terrorists to extract a heavy price from the attackers, and bring back all those they kidnapped as well as the large number of cattle rustled.
He also expressed the sincere condolences of the government and people of Nigeria to the bereaved families, communities and the government and people of Borno State.
Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
June 10, 2020
Express Shock! Express Shock! Express Shock!!..after the shock numbness sets in…and feelings go dead…Mr.President stop getting and expressing shock. Listen to popular demands about your Security arrangement. Respect the sanctity of life above primitive sentiments and parochial pursuit. Tomorrow may be too late. God is watching you Mr. President and your time counts down negatively unless you become selfless and value Nigerians and every life as Sacrosanct. Enough with all these blood shed and needless killings!