Categories: News

Boko Haram Takes Over Eighth Town, Refuses for Residents To Bury Dead


On Monday, Islamic militant group Boko Haram led a devastating offensive on the town of Bama, and while they were initially said to have been beaten back by government forces, by Tuesday, they reportedly returned, ultimately adding the area to their ever-increasing caliphate. Now, Boko Haram is reportedly refusing for residents to bury their dead, meaning that corpses are littering the streets, reports the BBC.

SEE ALSO: Parents Of Missing Chibok Girls Lose Hope, Demand Corpses Be Returned for Proper Burial

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While reports indicated that Bama, which had a population of 270,000, had been overtaken by the militants early in the week, Borno State Governor Zannah Umar Mustapha initially denied that claim, saying government forces were still actively involved in defending the area.

By Tuesday, though, Boko Haram reportedly reappeared with “reinforcements,” effectively displacing 26,391 people, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.

According to the BBC, “Mr. [Ahmed] Zanna, [Borno State senator], said government forces had ‘gallantly’ defended Bama, before it fell to Boko Haram.”

In this photo taken with a mobile phone, soldiers look at the bodies of suspected Islamic extremist killed during heavy fighting in Bama, Nigeria. PHOTO: Nampa/AP

Now that the town has fallen to Boko Haram, they are reportedly refusing for the dead to be buried.

“So many bodies litter the streets, and people are not allowed to even go and bury the dead ones. So the situation is getting worse and worse,” Zanna  said.

Boko Haram has been gaining control of northeastern Nigeria at an unprecedented pace. In addition to Bama, they also reportedly have control of Gwoza, Madagali, Dikwa, Ngala, Marte, Damboa, and Buni Yadi.

Zanna expressed his fears that Boko Haram would be looking to take over Maiduguri next, calling that impending takeover “catastrophic.” Maiduguri has a population of more than 2 million.

Therefore, he plead for the government to send the necessary resources to ensure Maiduguri doesn’t fall too.

“I’m begging the government to send more troops and armoury to Maiduguri,” he said.

SEE ALSO: Boko Haram Leader Declares New Caliphate In Latest Video, Nigerian Troops Run to Cameroon

 

Abena Agyeman-Fisher

Abena Agyeman-Fisher is the Editor-in-Chief of Face2Face Africa. Most recently, she worked for Interactive One as the Senior Editor of NewsOne, she worked for AOL as the News Programming Manager of Black Voices, which later became HuffPo Black Voices, and for the New York Times Company as an Associate Health Editor. Abena, a Spelman College graduate, has been published in Al Jazeera, the Daily Beast, New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger, the Grio, BlackVoices, West Orange Patch, About.com, the Source, Vibe, Vibe Vixen, Jane, and Upscale Magazines. She has interviewed top celebrities, icons, and politicians, such as First Lady Michelle Obama, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, Civil Rights activist and diplomat Andrew Young, comedian Bill Cosby, Grammy Award-winning singer Jill Scott, actress and singer Queen Latifah, Olympic Gold winner Cullen Jones, international supermodel Alek Wek, and five-division world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather. Most recently, she served as the First Lady’s press reporter during President Barack Obama’s U.S.-Africa Summit, Young African Leaders Institute event, and the 2013 presidential trip to Senegal, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Tanzania. Abena is also a 2015 International Women's Media Foundation Africa Great Lakes Fellow, where she reported on women candidates and Chinese sweatshops in Tanzania for CNN and Refinery29.

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