Baga faces the risk of epidemic as hundreds of unburied bodies litter the town's streets

COMMUNITY leaders in the border town of Baga that was on the receiving end of a brutal Boko Haram attack recently have expressed fears that it is facing the risk of an epidemic because they are unable to bury the corpses that litter its streets.

On January 3, Boko Haram militants seized Baga military base and several nearby locations, killing about 2,000 people in what has been described as it most gruesome attack ever. Almost 4,000 fled to neighbouring Chad as a result of the attack and hundreds of bodies litter the streets of Baga rotting away.

Alhaji Baba Abba Hassan, Baga's district head, said that the corpses of those killed still littered the streets and bushes of the town and there was no way to bury them. He added that although the actual figure of those killed cannot be ascertained, hundreds of people were killed with many others displaced from their fatherland.

According to Alhaji Hassan, most of those killed were women and children as the insurgents pursued them into the bushes before unleashing terror on them. He added that many of his people had relocated to Chad and Niger Republic, stressing that many others drowned in Lake Chad while others were killed in the bushes while trying to escape.

Senator Maina Ma’aji Lawan, the legislator representing Borno North, added: “Nobody can actually tell you the number of the people killed and the number of houses burnt down." He thanked the Borno government who sent buses to the area to convey the fleeing residents to safer zones.

Investigation revealed that the gunmen, who arrived from Sambisa Forest and Gwoza Hills, in a convoy of several Toyota Hilux vehicles and pickup vans, were equipped with improvised explosive devices and an armoured personnel carrier. According to Muktar Audu, a survivor who fled to Chad, the gunmen burst into Baga through Kauwa village and attacked the soldiers at the Multinational Joint Task Force barracks before proceeding into the town to kill any sighted persons.

He added: “The soldiers at the barracks and their duty posts ran away when the gunmen stormed Mile Three and Four areas of Baga Road. Some of the soldiers had to ride motorcycles to flee to Doron Baga Primary School, where other soldiers had fled for safety to take cover.

"The militants had overpowered the soldiers and they were begging people with dresses to change after removing their uniforms because the militants targeted security personnel. As the time of fleeing, I cannot ascertain the number of people killed yesterday morning because everyone had to flee to Chad through the lake."

Mr Audu, added that one of the boats carrying survivors capsized because of overloading, as every fleeing resident wanted to cross to Chad. Abubakar Gamandi, the head of Borno’s fish traders union and a Baga native, confirmed the attacks, adding that hundreds of people who fled were trapped on islands on Lake Chad.