Boko Haram attacks Shani, kills many

SEVERAL persons were killed on Saturday night in a fresh attack by Boko Haram on Shani, another town in Borno State.Both the police and fleeing residents confirmed the attack and they said scores were killed.Some of those who fled from the town during the attack told journalists that over 30 armed Boko Haram insurgents on motorcycles stormed Shani in the southern part of the troubled state on Saturday night.Shani is about 260 kilometres from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, and the town shares borders with some communities in Adamawa State.Borno and Adamawa, both in the north-eastern zone, have been under state of emergency for more than 18 months as a result of the activities of the violent Islamic sect.One of the fleeing residents, Solomon Shani, told journalists on phone from Biu on Sunday morning that “the terrorists came at about 8pm and started shooting everywhere. The gunshots were becoming unbearable and I just had to run away into the bush with my children.”He said all attempts to speak with some members of his wife and children since he fled Shanihad been futile as their phones were no more going through.Shani narrated that the insurgents set houses on fire to force residents out.On the casualty figure, he said, “I can’t say for now, many people were killed; 40, 50, 60, I can’t say.”A military source in Biu confirmed the attack, saying the insurgents burnt down a police station and other public buildings in the community.The Borno State police commissioner, Clement Adoda, who confirmed the attack on the townto journalists in Maiduguri, said several properties were destroyed.Adoda could not say the number of persons killed in the attack as of the time of this report.Shani had been under Boko Haram attack in the past. The Saturday invasion was the third since 2012.The town with a council headquarters came under attacks shortly before the 2011 general elections as suspected Boko Haram insurgents raided the local office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, killed some ad-hoc staff of the electoral body and destroyed electoral materials.The Shani Divisional Police Station was also attacked mid-June 2014 with no fewer than five policemen killed.