LAGOS
Nigerian police have confirmed that at least 47 people were killed in an attack by Boko Haram fighters on Bama, a town about 130km from Maiduguri, the capital city of Nigeria's insurgency-ridden northeastern state of Borno.
"My men counted up to 47 casualties as at yesterday night and many others were injured and rushed to hospital," Borno police chief Tanko Lawal told Anadolu Agency on Thursday morning.
"We at still working with health workers in Bama and neighboring settlements to let us have the precise number of casualties," he added.
The police chief expected that the death toll might rise.
"That is because some people who sustained serious gun injuries later succumbed to the injuries," he explained.
Tanko said security agencies are intensifying efforts to seal "solid synergy with neighboring countries" to cut the escape and supply routes of the insurgents.
Details emerging from Bama indicated that the insurgents wreaked serious havoc on the town.
They torched the palace of the Shehu of Bama, Kyari Elkanemi, the headquarters of Bama local government area and other notable buildings around.
Key traditional rulers in Borno State take the title of Shehu and are mostly descendants of the Elkanemi, the 19th century warrior and Muslim scholar credited with founding the Kanem Bornu empire.
The militants had reportedly arrived around 4am in more than 10 Hilux vehicles and did not leave until a few minutes before 9am.
The attack was the third in Bama in less than a year.
The insurgents had in May killed 55 people, including 22 policemen, 12 prison officials and two soldiers.
Thirteen of the Boko Haram fighters were also killed in the encounter.
In December, the insurgents attacked the military camp in the town, killing several soldiers.
Boko Haram, a hitherto peaceful organization that had preached against corruption, suddenly turned violent in 2009 following the murder of group leader Mohamed Yusuf while in police custody.
In the years since, the group has been blamed for thousands of terrorist acts, including attacks on churches and security posts across Nigeria's northern region, especially the three northeastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.
Although it claims to want an Islamist government in the region, Nigerian Muslims – most of whom reject Boko Haram as un-Islamic – have also been targeted by the militant group.
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