Stray bullet kills 5-year-old boy in Boko Haram attack

A 5-year old boy was on Saturday killed in an attack by Boko Haram insurgents at Magumeri town, headquarters of Magumeri local government area of Borno.

Wakil Malam-Tawu, secretary to the council, told NAN on Sunday that the boy was killed by a stray bullet.

Malam-Tawu said two women and a teenager also sustained gunshot injuries in the Saturday night attack.

He explained that a clinic, mosque and shops were also razed in the attack, adding that those injured were treated and discharged.

“The people have returned to their houses and slept at Magumeri while others came back in the morning. It was only one child of about 5 years old that was killed and three other people wounded by stray bullets,” he said.

“And also a rocket launcher hit one of our health clinics, including a mosque and some shops along the main road.

“This morning I visited Magumeri; the town is very calm, we paid a sympathy visit to the person who lost his child to condole him.

“We also paid a visit to the areas where rocket launchers hit some of our structures.”

Malam-Tawu also dismissed as “misleading” reports indicating that the insurgents had taken over the town, noting that normalcy had been restored to the area.

The Nigerian army had announced that three of its troops were killed and six others wounded while fighting to repel the insurgents’ attack in the town.

Timothy Antigha, deputy director army public relations, 8 task force division, said in a statement that the insurgents attacked and damaged military formations in the area.

Antigha added that the troops had successfully repelled the attack while normalcy has been restored.