Pastor, Five Others Killed in Yobe State by Suspected Boko Haram Militants

Pastor Luka Levong of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) was murdered in Kwari, Geidam Local Government Area, Yobe State, by suspected Boko Haram militants. The attackers also killed five other people.

Residents transported the bodies to the Specialist Hospital Geidamsts, told journalists that the assailants broke into the neighbourhood at approximately 2 a.m. on Friday and opened fire on the pastor and Maina Abdullahi, the church treasurer.

Multiple residences, including a church, and vehicles were set on fire, while the other victims were allegedly murdered in their own homes sequentially prior to the arrival of the security guys.

Attempts to contact the military and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) have been unsuccessful so far, and neither has commented on the incident.

The state capital, Damaturu, is 177 kilometres distant from Geidam, while the border between Nigeria and the Niger Republic is approximately 40 kilometres away.

This is only days after militants from Boko Haram killed 12 people and wounded 2 others in an attack on a town in adjacent Yobe State.

The town of Gartamawa in Chibok Local Government Area, 125 km outside of Maiduguri—the capital of Borno State—was the site of the assault.

At approximately 5 o’clock in the afternoon on Monday, while the town of Gatamarwa was celebrating the new year, terrorists riding in on motorbikes and Hilux trucks brandished AK-47 rifles and began fire on mourners making their way back from the celebration.

“They proceeded to assault another Tsiha settlement close to Shikarkir, where they murdered three individuals, kidnapped a young woman, set fire to their homes, and stole all of their supplies,” a source said Channels Television.

Since the extremist group’s 2009 uprising, almost two million people have been forced from their homes, and at least 40,000 have lost their lives.

A regional military force has been established to combat the jihadists, as the insurgency has extended into neighbours Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.