The Yobe government donates N30 million to the families of the slain persons in Mafa.

The Yobe State Government has announced that a total of 34 people were killed in Sunday’s Boko Haram attack in Mafa, Tarmuwa Local Government Area.

The 34 victims were buried on Tuesday in Babangida, the headquarters of Tarmuwa local government.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the attack during which the terrorists also burnt several houses and shops.

Hundreds of residents were displaced as a result of the attack.

“The figure is 34 people that were found dead, while five persons sustained injuries,” Dahiru Abdulsalam, Governor Mala Buni’s special adviser on security matters, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday.

”Four are in critical conditions, while the other, sustained a minor injury and he is in stable condition.”

Mr Abdulsalam suggested that the location of Mafa makes residents there soft targets for the Boko Haram.

”Any information apart from this is just a rumour. Nobody has gone to Mafa yesterday other than the troops, who brought these bodies.

”The insurgents are not confronting the military; they are confronting innocent civilians who are soft targets,” he said.

Govt pledges support

At the burial, the Yobe State Government announced the donation of N30 million to the families of the victims of the attack.

Idi Gubana, the state’s deputy governor, made the announcement when he led a delegation to burial ceremony.

He condoled with the Emir of Jajere, Buba Mashio, and the people of the area over the dastardly act.

Mr Gubana directed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to provide shelter and food items to the displaced persons who lost all their belongings as a result of the attack.

He stated that Governor Buni, who was utterly devastated by the killings, had visited the Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, over sustainable security in Mafa.

The deputy governor noted that deployment of sufficient troops in Mafa – located at the border of Borno and Yobe – would prevent future attacks in the trade hub.

He prayed Allah to repose the souls of the deceased and grant their immediate families the fortitude to bear the loss.
Tinubu reacts

President Bola Tinubu commiserated with the government and the people of Yobe over the attack.

In a statement by his spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, the president also extended his condolences to bereaved families.

He described the killings as “an atrocious and cowardly act of terror by a degraded group of criminals,” Mr Ngelale wrote.

“The president prays for the repose of the souls of the deceased, speedy recovery for the wounded, and assures the people of Yobe State that the perpetrators of this sinister act will have an inevitable encounter with justice.”