Over 100 persons were yesterday killed in a communal clash involving three border communities in Gwoza Local Government Council of Borno State, with members of Attagara, Aghapalwa and Gwoshe border communities also said to have taken up arms against one another.
The clash, which started as a communal clash later turned out to be a religious war between Christians and Muslims.
At least nine Christian worshippers were said to have been killed last Sunday by Islamic militants during a Sunday service in Attagara village, leaving many others critically injured. Reports said the youths of the village mobilized and killed 37 of their attackers in a reprisal.
The reprisal attack, according to sources, however made matters worse, as some Muslim youths believed that the Christian youths killed other Muslims rather than Boko Haram members who were responsible for the death of the nine Christian worshippers as well as the burning of churches in Attagara Village.
The Muslim youths were said to have mobilised against Christian youths, leading to the burning of the whole village and the killing of more than 100 villagers.
Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed, an elder and member of the community told journalists in Maiduguri that Boko Haram members attacked the villages at about 1 a.m for killing their members, who earlier attacked churches and communities in the area. He explained that most of the villages in Gwoza are now divided along religious lines, as Christians who are living among Muslims have fled their homes to settle in Christian-dominated areas, while Muslims who were living in areas dominated by Christians have also fled their homes for Muslim-dominated areas.
[Vanguard]
