BREAKING NEWS:150 escaping Yobe residents drown, killed by Boko Haram

Firstclass newsline gathered that more than 150 people drowned in a
river or were shot dead fleeing Boko Haram gunmen who raided a remote
village in Yobe State, local residents said on Tuesday.
"They opened fire instantly, which forced residents to flee. They shot
a number of people. Unfortunately many residents who tried to flee
plunged into the river which is full from the rain. Many drowned,"
Modu Balumi, a resident of the village, told AFP.
"By our latest toll, we have 150 people either (shot dead) or drowned
in the attack. The gunmen deliberately killed a fisherman who tried to
save drowning residents of the village."
Balumi said the bodies of many of the drowned were picked out by
locals several kilometres away.
News of the attack was slow to emerge because the militants have
destroyed telecom masts around the village, around 50 kilometres (30
miles) from Yobe State capital, Damaturu, since the insurgency began
in 2009.
"Most residents, particularly women and children, ran towards the
river in confusion," said Bukar Tijjani, another villager, who
confirmed the death toll.
"They were pursued by the gunmen who kept firing at them. In the
frantic effort to escape, they jumped into the river, which was full
to the brim."
A local government official confirmed the attack but put the death
toll much lower, at around 50.
The ambush came during the region's peak rainy season, when most
waterways in northeastern Nigeria are swollen and can flow with
dangerous speed.
The village was still reeling from a raid by suspected Boko Haram
militants on July 31 when at least 10 people were killed by gunmen who
burned homes, food silos and livestock.
‎The Gujba area of Yobe state, where Kukuwa-Gari village is located,
has been hit hard by Boko Haram violence in the past but had seen
relative calm since troops reclaimed it in March.
In September 2013 scores of students of an agricultural college in the
area were massacred as they slept in their dormitories.
In February last year dozens of students of a boarding secondary
school in the main town of Buni Yadi were also killed in a gun attack
on their hostels.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for both attacks.
The jihadist militia, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic
State group, has waged a violent campaign for a separate Islamic
homeland in the northeast which has seen more than 15,000 deaths since
2009.
The military under President Muhammadu Buhari's predecessor Goodluck
Jonathan was heavily criticised for poor handling of the insurgency
and its failure to free more than 200 schoolgirls abducted from the
northeastern town of Chibok in April last year.
Nigeria's new leader, who came to power on May 29 vowing to destroy
Boko Haram, replaced his military chiefs last week, ordering them to
end the insurgency within three months.
Firstclassnewsline.net