Suspected Boko Haram militants last night attacked the residents of Shani, the headquarters of Shani local government area, killing more than twelve people and forcing hundreds to flee the embattled town.
A security source told a correspondent of SaharaReporters that the militants stormed Shani in the late evening of yesterday, with hundreds of shocked residents fleeing into the bush in a race for their lives.
“The militants opened fire indiscriminately on people and also burnt down the police station as well as other public buildings,” according to a police source in Shani.
A resident, Kubo Aminu, said he saw at least ten corpses of victims of the latest attack by Islamist insurgents who have launched incessant attacks throughout the northeast section of Nigeria. He added that many residents sustained various degrees of injuries.
“The police on duty were running away,” said the witness. He asked, “If the police run away, what would civilians wait for? The town is deserted now.”
The source disclosed that the attackers burnt down the police station and many other public and private buildings.
But a police source in Shani tried to minimize the extent of destruction. “The attackers only destroyed our station and [a] few other houses,” he said, adding, “We are about to hold a meeting with the Emir and his advisers to know what to do next.”
The police source admitted, however, that many of the residents had fled and that the streets were empty. He said he wanted to buy a recharge mobile phone card in order to call his superior officer in Maiduguri, “but there’s nowhere to buy it.”
Shani is located in the southern part of Borno State, about 265 kilometers from the capital city Maiduguri.
