During an invasion on Kautikari village in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State by fighters of the Islamic State for West African Province, ISWAP, on Friday, a traditional ruler’s son and two internally displaced individuals were killed.
Mr Bulama Wadir was the moniker given by locals who fled the village to the traditional ruler’s son.
In December 2021 and January 2022, Kautikari was assaulted, and women and children were kidnapped. During the attacks, the insurgents also destroyed a church in the area.
Despite the current attack, a local, Barka Amos, told 360 MEDIA that the situation is better than it has been in the past. He did not understand why the insurgents are so picky about Kautikari village, he claimed.
“I was born here, and I don’t know where else to go. I’m weary of fleeing.” These people have been attacking this village for years, and I’ve been on the run since then. “At 56 years old, I think I should stop running,” he stated.
When his kinsmen raced to their heels when they heard the first gunshot, he did not move from his residence, according to him.
“My brother and brother-in-law fled. They asked me to come with them but I refused. It is not about being brave. It is about getting tired of running. I have seen people who run and get killed. I reserved myself to fate now,” he added.
Kautikari, just a few kilometres away from Chibok town, came under deadly attacks and abductions of over 10 people mostly women and children on 1st January 2022, setting ablaze one of the largest churches in the community bordering Sambisa Forest.
Amos said he had buried many of his kinsmen and relations who were killed by Boko Haram, adding that many of their sons and daughters abducted are still nowhere to be found.
He said, “Government has abandoned us. The insurgents always come and do whatever they want and go back to come back another day. There was no time that security operatives came to defend us here, none that I could recall. All you here is the same story.”
Attacks in Chibok areas and particularly the recent one in January 2022 made the Borno State governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, visit the area and encourage the people as well as the security operatives stationed in the local government.
During his visits, the governor met with the families of 22 women and two men abducted by the insurgents where he encouraged them and asked them to continue to trust in God through prayers.
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