How Boko Haram killed people who were too weak to run after Ramadan fast

In sizzling temperatures, Boko Haram timed their latest attack to coincide with the breaking of the Ramadan fast.

Most of the people Boko Haram killed in Gajigana, Borno state on Sunday, May 17, were too weak to flee after several weeks of fasting.

So when the terrorists stormed the sleepy community as folks were preparing to break their Ramadan fast after sundown, they met the locals at their vulnerable worst.

And left them for dead.

Entering the village from the opposite end

The Associated Press (AP) reports that Boko Haram would go on to kill at least 20 people in the first attack of its kind in northeastern Nigeria since the Muslim holy month began.

News of the attack broke on Monday, May 18, 2020. But the killings occurred the day before.

Military kills key Boko Haram leaders in an air strikes carried out in Borno. [Twitter/@fredwave]

The terrorists reportedly entered the opposite end of the village from where Nigerian soldiers were posted.

“The shootings were sudden and intense; people began to flee in all directions,” Ba’an Bukar, a member of a local vigilante group, told AP.

Bukar added that many of the victims were too weak to flee after several weeks of fasting, with temperatures soaring to 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday.

Audu Mustapha who is a member of the Borno state House of Assembly, said 25 others were wounded in the attack.

Gajigana lies about 47 kilometers (29 miles) north of the Borno state capital of Maiduguri.

Reign of terror

Boko Haram has killed more than 50,000 people, abducted hundreds and left more than 7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, since it commenced a decade-long insurgency against the Nigerian state.

A resurgent Nigerian army has been giving the terrorists a run for their money in recent times, decimating most of their fighters by the day, thanks to superior weaponry.

Latest reports suggest that the army is closing in on the top echelon of the terrorist group and its loudmouth leader, Abubakar Shekau.