Twenty mourners returning from the interment of victims of an earlier attack by jihadists in north-eastern Nigeria were killed by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, according to the police.
Explosive Collision in Yobe State
The distraught individuals perished when their vehicle collided with an explosive device that the insurgents had planted in Yobe state.
The militants executed seventeen individuals during a raid on Gurokayeya village on Monday.
Police say the attacks were orchestrated by Boko Haram after the villagers refused to pay a purported harvest tax.
Residents of north-eastern Nigeria have often accused terrorists of extorting money to fund their activities and preserve power.
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“This is one of the most heinous assaults carried out by Boko Haram in recent history. It is beyond horrifying that a burial group would be attacked so soon after the tragic loss of their loved ones,” said Idris Geidam, a local resident, to the Associated Press.
Ten members of the burial party perished at the scene, according to Yobe police spokesman Dungus Abdulkarim, and an additional ten perished at a health centre where they were rushed for treatment.
Tuesday marked the occurrence, one day following the decisive assault on the village of Gurokayeya.
Boko Haram’s Ongoing Menace
These attacks mark the initial significant offensive executed by Boko Haram in Yobe for over a year.
The militants may have come from neighboring Borno state, where Boko Haram has conducted multiple attacks against civilians this year, according to state authorities who expressed suspicion.
A significant portion of Borno, the region where Boko Haram originated, is still considered too perilous for vehicle travel.
Since 2009, when the group initiated its insurgency, more than two million people have been displaced, according to aid organizations.
In addition to expanding into neighboring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, the militant organization has evaded government forces.
Boko Haram, an extremist organization whose name translates to “Western education is forbidden,” has targeted secular institutions on numerous occasions in an effort to establish its form of Islamic rule in the region.
The group’s 2014 abduction of nearly 200 female students from Chibok, northeastern Nigeria, garnered global attention.
