Boko Haram Kills 18 Firewood Merchants in Borno

Suspected Boko Haram members have attacked a group of firewood merchants in Borno State, ‘slaughtering not less than 18 persons’.

A source told our correspondent that the 18 persons were killed at Koshebe in Jere Local Government Area of the state when they went out to search for firewood and charcoal.

The Boko Haram latest victims often load the fire woods and charcoals in vehicles and sell them in Maiduguri, the state capital, which is also the birthplace of the Islamic terrorist group.

The source, who spoke anonymously to our correspondent, said the latest killing happened last Monday when the victims had gone out for their business in Maiduguri.

Jere, which is part of the Maiduguri metropolis, is largely believed to be unsafe as Boko Haram insurgents are believed to be living in some settlements in the area.

A police officer, who worked in one of the Divisional Police Offices in Jere, speaking anonymously to our correspondent, revealed that 10 corpses were evacuated from the scene of the attack to Maiduguri.

He said eight other corpses were yet to be evacuated as the vehicle could not traverse the difficult terrain to pick them from where they were.

Another source said he saw security vehicles conveying the corpses along Kadamari- Maiduguri road at about 2p.m. on Tuesday.

He said: “There was an ambush on firewood sellers who had gone to the bush to fetch their products by suspected members of Boko Haram in Koshebe general area of Jere Local Government Area of Borno State.

"18 dead bodies were seen at the scene of the attacks, but as it is, only 10 dead bodies were recovered and evacuated so far by our security forces in conjunction with members of Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).

"The remaining eight dead bodies were yet to be evacuated due to inaccessibility of the area."