Boko Haram Reportedly Kidnaps 40 Boys In Borno
According to Punch Newspaper, Boko Haram insurgents abducted 40 boys on New Year’s eve.
The AFP reports that the terrorists stormed Malari village around 8pm on 31t December and took away people, all males, aged between 10 and 23. They were reportedly taken into Sambisa Forest.
The news of the abductions came yesterday day only after residents who fled the village arrived in Maiduguri, the state capital of Borno, late on Friday.
One of the parents of the abducted boys Bulama Muhammad told AFP,
They came in pick-up trucks armed with guns and gathered all the men in the village outside the home of the village chief where they preached to us before singling out 40 of our boys and taking them away.
He added,
My two sons and three nephews were among those taken away by the Boko Haram gunmen and we believe they are going to use them as conscripts.
Residents of Malari and nearby villages have fled, fearing more abductions and attacks and abductions.
One of the people who fled from the nearby village of Mulgwi, said, “When we heard of the kidnap of 40 boys in Malari by Boko Haram, we decided to leave because we could be the next target. Boko Haram has been abducting young men from villages in the area because we are close to their stronghold in Sambisa forest.”