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Suspected members of Boko Haram on Saturday attacked Ngoshe Village of Gwoza Local Government Area killing at least one person, local security officials said.

The insurgents also abducted about ten residents of the village.

A chieftain of the Vigilante Group of Nigerian in Borno State, Abbas Gava, informed PREMIUM TIMES that “one of our personnel, Musa Abdullahi, was among those killed when some heavily armed Boko Haram insurgents attacked Ngoshe-Bayan-Dutse community.”

“Some unknown number of corpses were left in the bush as villagers fled to mountain tops around Gwoza Local Government Area.

“By the report I received from one of our officials in Ngoshe, Hawa Bukar, who called me with a Cameroon registered phone number, at least ten persons were abducted and taken away by the Boko Haram, while some corpses were seen in the bush as the villagers were fleeing.”

Gwoza town, the headquarters of Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State is surrounded by rocky mountains.

Other communities of the council area like Mararraba, Angwan Fada Dale, Wizha, Bokko Timit, Bokko Nasanu, Bokko Hidde are either located on top of the mountains or behind them. Ngoshe is one of the communities located behind the mountains near the Cameroonian border. The people of Ngoshe largely depend on Cameroonian mobile lines for their local calls to Nigeria.

Boko Haram insurgents, believed to have secret enclaves around the rocky mountains, often launch attacks on Ngoshe and other villages in the area.

A former council member of Gwoza Local Government Area, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also confirmed the attack.

“I wouldn’t want to pre-empt whatever those in charge are doing concerning the attack”, he said. “But I can assure you that we have the correct hint that the attack actually took place, and we are still waiting for more information about the extent of damage done; especially the issue of casualties.”

The army and the police are yet to comment on this latest attack.

A message sent to the spokesperson of the Operation Lafiya Dole, Onyema Nwachukwu, was not responded to as at the time of filing this report.

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