Gunmen from the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorist group attacked the isolated village of Kayayya, located approximately 150 kilometers from Damaturu, the administrative center of Yobe State, according to the sources.
“The terrorists attacked the village around eight in the evening (about 21:00 CET) with explosives and firearms and then shot at the residents who were trying to escape. They killed 17 people and wounded five others,” said Gremah Bukar, a member of the army’s auxiliary militia.
The attack was in retaliation for the village’s refusal to pay cattle tax to the Islamists, Bukar’s colleague Abubakar Adamu added.
In remote areas of Nigeria, militias and armed groups demand that villages pay them “taxes”. Over the past two years, the Islamists have launched attacks outside their stronghold of Borno State, with Yobe State, which borders Borno State, feeling the brunt of the violence, including bloody raids on villages, military bases, schools and markets.
At least 40,000 people have lost their lives in Nigeria since 2009 in clashes with Islamists. In the country’s northeast, violence has driven more than two million people from their homes.
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Tags: Islamists shoot villagers northeastern Nigeria cattle tax
