By Sam Kayode
More insights have emerged on how insurgents, operating in the northern flank of Borno State, swooped on scores on fishermen in Dikwa and opened fire on them.
The source said the gunmen, suspected to be of the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) slaughtered dozens of the fishermen at Mukdolo village in Dikwa council area of State.
He said the fishermen were actually minding their businesses in the water enjoying their fishing spree when the insurgents suddenly surrounded them on Wednesday in their usual commando style and asked them to lie down before wiping them from the face of the earth.
The area in between Gamboru and Dikwa which used to be a popular fresh water fishing community before the Boko Haram insurgency held sway in the state had been a notable area for the generation of revenue for Dikwa council area.
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That is why residents from Dikwa usually trek to Mukdolo, which is about 19 km away, to fish and sometimes to fetch firewood for their personal consumption.
Intelligence sources who went as part of the rescue team from Dikwa confirmed to this reporter in Maiduguri that over 26 corpses may have been found on the spot Wednesday but it obviously increased to about 33 by first light on Thursday.
Sources of the Civilian Joint Jask Forces (CJTF) in Dikwa however said that many others are missing which is why a search warrant has been issued to find out more corpses in the bush or if some have been abducted
“For now, we cannot establish the exact number of those slaughtered as well as whether some were abducted. But we are working with Nigerian troops to get this done.
“However, we can tell you that when the military stopped the residents from looking for scrap metals, dozens of our people do go to the village daily for fishing to supplement their protein needs”, said the source.
When contacted spokesman of operations Hadin Kai, Major Zagkhon, said they were aware of the incident but was not able to release details as at the time of writing this report.
