Barely 24 hours after Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as the President of Nigeria, where he vowed during his Inaugural Address to subdue the terrorist group Boko Haram, the group attacked the ancient cities of Fika and Ngalda in Yobe State.
Fika is 150km west of Damaturu, the State capital, and shares a border with Gombe State to the south.
Witnesses said the terrorist group first launched an attack on Ngalda, the Yobe/Gombe boarder town, before proceeding to attack Fika town which is the headquarters of Fika Local Government Area (LGA).
The witness said during the assault that the terrorists burnt down the LGA Secretariat, the magistrate court of the area, as well as the torching the Divisional Police station.
A top police officer confirmed the attack to a ChannelsTV correspondent saying, “the attackers came to the two towns between the hours of 7:30 and 9:00 in the evening. [They] attacked and loot several shops and went away with several food items.”
He also said the militants “came to the area in two Toyota Hilux vans, and also went away with several motorcycles.”
The Chairman of Fika Local Government Council, Alhaji Baba Abare, who confirmed the incident says “the militants came to the two towns shooting sporadically to scare people away so as to have ample opportunity for their looting.”
He also said they targeted shops and looted several food items as well as beverages but no life was loss during the assault.
The State Police Commissioner, Mr. Markus Danladi, who declined comment on the violence, said “the Military Joint Task Force is the only body that is authorized to speak on such matter.”
The Fika and Ngalda communities have suffered several instances of Boko Haram assaults since the commencement of the insurgency in part because the communities share a common border with Gujba and Gulani Council Areas captured by the militant group, but have since been liberated by security forces.