More than 20 traders were reportedly killed by Boko Haram militants today, September 19, as they attacked a Borno market, according to SaharaReporters.
As an eyewitness reports, the militants stormed Mainok market around 1.20pm and opened fire indiscriminately on traders. Thus, many people sustained various degrees of injuries, though travelers were the intended victims of the ugly attack.
“I boarded a Hummer bus from Jos and as soon as we arrived Mainok, at exactly 1.20pm, we heard heavy gunshots from the western part of the market and sporadic gunshots followed,” a resident of Maiduguri, Talatu Musa, who was traveling from Damaturu, said.
According to Talatu Musa, hundreds of traders and residents fled the market in confusion, running to cross the highway to the other side. Many people were killed.
“As I am speaking with you I can’t believe what I have seen today,” she disclosed.
Another eyewitness, James Bitrus, who is a traveler, said: “Many people may have been killed. I can’t say the number precisely but many people were killed. From the way the militants were shooting at the crowd, the casualties should be many.”
Speaking on the matter, he added that vehicles speeding off from the area were hitting residents who also tried to escape shooting. “Vehicles were hitting one another and Boko Haram kept shooting,” he said.
It could be recalled that Boko Haram had killed more than one hundred travelers this year when they attacked Mainok and Beniseik in March. Mainok is in the western part of Borno State, and about 50 kilometres from Maiduguri.
Meanwhile, commuters are now panicking during travel on Maiduguri-Damaturu road, which used to be the safest route, because Boko Haram has taken over all other roads that link Maiduguri with other states.
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