Nigeria: Boko Haram raids Gajiganna, kills 20

Kano, Nigeria, May 18, 2020 – Boko Haram jihadists killed 20 civilians in an attack on a village in restive northeastern Nigeria as inhabitants prepared to break their Ramadan fast, residents and local security personnel said Monday. Insurgents in several pickup trucks fired barrages of rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) in the attack Sunday on homes in Gajiganna village as people gathered inside for the evening meal, the sources told AFP. “Boko Haram hit Gajiganna yesterday with RPGs and killed 20 people,” Babakura Kolo, a member of a government-backed anti-jihadist militia, told AFP. “Fourteen people were seriously injured and several buildings were destroyed in the attack.”

Injured resident Bukar Gaji said from hospital that his wife was killed and three children were seriously wounded when a grenade hit their house. He said the fighters stationed themselves outside the village around 1715 GMT and launched RPGs at homes while residents were mostly indoors preparing to break their fast. Another resident, Adam Bura, said he had taken part in the burial of 20 people killed in the attack.

Boko Haram fighters have waged a decade-long insurgency in the northeast of Nigeria that has killed more than 36,000 and displaced around 1.8 million. Gajiganna, which lies 50 kilometres (30 miles) outside the regional capital Maiduguri, has been repeatedly targeted by the jihadists. But the village had seen a lull in attacks since February when the militants killed a soldier and seized a gun truck in a raid on a military post.

AFP