Two killed as Boko Haram attacks Maiduguri IDP camp

Normalcy has returned to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp at Dalori,Maiduguri, after Thursday night attack by Boko Haram.

Two persons –an old man and a child – died in the attack.

Dozens of hoodlums on motorcycles and two motorised rickshaws invaded the IDPs at about 8pm after gaining entry through the back perimeter fence.

They broke into shops emptying them of food items and then started shooting sporadically.

“We have recovered two dead bodies from the attack which also left several IDPs (internally displaced persons) with injuries,” said Bello Danbatta, head of security in the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

“The insurgents looted and burnt shops in the camp and also carted food supplies from the main store where food aid is stored,” he said.

Abba Aji, a top commander of the youth vigilance group known as Civilian-JTF, said the gunmen first attacked the soldiers’ station near the camp before they moved in, shooting sporadically.

“It happened a few minutes after 8 p.m. when they (Boko Haram) broke into the camp and killed two persons, an old woman a very little child,” he said.

The attack sent panic around the university especially as soldiers manning the gates also responded with their guns.

The sporadic shooting forced some students and many residents living around the locations to flee into the town.

Hauwa Ibrahim, a female student, said she had to flee from the school campus against the warning of the security men at the gate.

“I had to call my uncle who rushed to the University gate to pick me and some of my friends,” she said.

“We could not take the risk of sleeping in my hostel because the sound of the shootings and what sounded like bombings seemed very close to our hostel,“ Ms Ibrahim said.