“Boko Haram attacked the village of Bemi, killing seven people and kidnapping seven others, including a priest,” Kashallah Osman, Chibok District Secretary, told CNN on Friday.
“They also burned a church, a clinic and several homes,” he added.
Bimi is about 20 kilometers from Chibok, where Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls six years ago.
A man claiming to be Abu Bakr Shekau, the leader of a Boko Haram faction, said the group was also responsible for kidnapping more than 300 students in the northwest of the country earlier this month, although Governor Aminu Bello Masari denied the claim, saying if he was “Local bandits” officials.
Udo Shewar, the former secretary of the Chibok community in Abuja, told CNN that he received a call Thursday from a local resident that gunmen had opened fire in the village. The witness told Shawar that several houses in the area had been burned, as was the Evangelical Brothers Church in the village of Bemi.
Several eyewitnesses told CNN that they also heard gunshots and saw people shoot.
Eyewitness Bomo Ishaku stated that an international Christian youth organization was holding a parade in the village of Bemi to celebrate Christmas when the attack occurred.
Nkeki Mutah, head of the Chibok community in Abuja, told CNN that he believes Pemi Village is targeted specifically because it is a predominantly Christian community.
“Since 2018, almost every two weeks, Boko Haram has attacked Chibok, killing and kidnapping people,” Muta said.
They want to wipe the Chipok off the ground.
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