25 CIVILLIANS KILLED IN BORNO

Maiduguri — Troops using fighter jets have killed 50 suspected members of the Boko Haram sect who had earlier murdered many civilians in villages in Nganzai and Konduga Local Government Areas of Borno State, spokesman of the newly established 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maiduguri, Lt Col Sagir Musa, said yesterday. When asked the number of civilians killed by the Boko Haram fighters on Wednesday and Thursday, Sagir said, "the exact number is not certain at the moment, but I am sure local officials should have an idea of the casualty figure." But latest information from witnesses indicate that the Boko Haram insurgents had killed 24 civilians, nine in Bulabulin Ngabura of Konduga Local Government Area and 15 others in Gajiran, the headquarters of Nganzai Local Government Area. It was also gathered that in Bulabulin Ngabura, the insurgents have kidnapped a man, his wife and three children, a development which sources said prompted the military to deploy fighter jets to arrest the insurgents. Col Musa in Maiduguri yesterday, said the insurgents were trailed to their operational camps by ground troops and military fighter jets. According to him, "troops of the 5 Brigade of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army have effectively repelled Boko Haram terrorists attack on Gajiran and Bulabulin Ngabura communities in Nganzai and Konduga Local Government Areas of Borno State. "Troops pursued the terrorists to their camps with air support and about 50 insurgents were killed in a shootout. "Subsequently, the villages have been rescued from the insurgents. At the moment, the Brigade troops are pursuing the remnants of the fleeing terrorists by blocking all possible escape routes," Sagir said. Weekly Trust gathered from locals that the Boko Haram terrorists, numbering over 40 reportedly attacked Gajiran, 75 kilometres from Maiduguri and killed 15 locals around noon on Wednesday. They also burnt the council secretariat, market, police station and hospital. A local trader who came to Maiduguri from the area yesterday said, "the insurgents came in the afternoon, some of them in military uniforms and others with hooded face and opened fire in the market, after accusing our people of conniving with security forces.