Boko Haram attacks Shani, kills many

SEVERAL persons were killed on Saturday night in a
fresh attack by Boko Haram on Shani, another town in
Borno State.
Both the police and fleeing residents confirmed the attack
and they said scores were killed.
Some of those who fled from the town during the attack
told journalists that over 30 armed Boko Haram
insurgents on motorcycles stormed Shani in the southern
part of the troubled state on Saturday night.
Shani is about 260 kilometres from Maiduguri, the Borno
State capital, and the town shares borders with some
communities in Adamawa State.
Borno and Adamawa, both in the north-eastern zone,
have been under state of emergency for more than 18
months as a result of the activities of the violent Islamic
sect.
One of the fleeing residents, Solomon Shani, told
journalists on phone from Biu on Sunday morning that
“the terrorists came at about 8pm and started shooting
everywhere. The gunshots were becoming unbearable and
I just had to run away into the bush with my children.”
He said all attempts to speak with some members of his
wife and children since he fled Shanihad been futile as
their phones were no more going through.
Shani narrated that the insurgents set houses on fire to
force residents out.
On the casualty figure, he said, “I can’t say for now,
many people were killed; 40, 50, 60, I can’t say.”
A military source in Biu confirmed the attack, saying the
insurgents burnt down a police station and other public
buildings in the community.
The Borno State police commissioner, Clement Adoda,
who confirmed the attack on the town to journalists in
Maiduguri, said several properties were destroyed.
Adoda could not say the number of persons killed in the
attack as of the time of this report.
Shani had been under Boko Haram attack in the past.
The Saturday invasion was the third since 2012.
The town with a council headquarters came under attacks
shortly before the 2011 general elections as suspected Boko
Haram insurgents raided the local office of the
Independent National Electoral Commission, killed some
ad-hoc staff of the electoral body and destroyed electoral
materials.
The Shani Divisional Police Station was also attacked
mid-June 2014 with no fewer than five policemen killed.