Kirawa communities in the Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State have cried out regarding widespread Boko Haram attacks that have resulted in loss of life, destruction, and displacement of several families.
Kirawa is approximately 22km from Gwoza town and 112km from Maiduguri. The locality has seen three high-profile attacks in recent weeks. In the first, Cameroonian troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) were ejected from their base, prompting residents to run for safety into Cameroon. In the second, one high-ranking member of the CJTF was shot dead and six truckloads of goods and agricultural harvest were torched on Pulka-Kirawa Road. The attack resulted in the death of two people and the burning of the district head’s palace, 50 residential buildings, business units, and road equipment.
Survivors narrated their experience. Mohammed Abubakar explained how the locals now sleep in Cameroon by night for security and come back during the morning to resume repairing their houses. “Our businesses and homes are almost all destroyed. We hardly have enough to eat from the meager food donations because our businesses were ruined. What we really need in a hurry is soldiers to guard us,” he added.
Another resident, Baba Kyari Shettima, who has 11 children, praised Governor Babagana Zulum for mobilizing CJTF, hunters, and vigilantes to restore confidence in the state but argued that the deployment of only the military can ensure long-term security. Zara Mohammed, who has nine children, said exactly the same thing, remembering the way incessant attacks forced families to run to schools and beneath trees in Cameroon for safety.
Abdulrahaman Abubakar, the Kirawa district head who had his palace burnt down, lamented the lack of hospitals and a deplorable state of roads, which compound residents’ troubles.
At a sympathy visit on Friday, Governor Zulum lamented the return of the cycle of violence that threatened the peace regained seven years ago when the community was resettled. He vowed to construct the torched dispensary into a general hospital, renovate destroyed houses, grade the destroyed road, deliver boreholes, and compensate owners of destroyed properties.
Zulum also reemphasized his call for the deployment of soldiers to border towns such as Kirawa, Wulgo, Baga, Damasak, and Malam Fatori, noting that security formations in the local area need to be equipped with modern technology to fend off terrorist attacks.
