Ndume narrates how Boko Haram took 75 elders to abattoir and slaughtered them in one night

The former Senate Majority Leader, Ali Ndume has said the insecurity situation in Gwoza was overwhelming and that people die every day either from attacks or by hunger.

The senator, who represents Borno South, stated this on Wednesday narrating how Boko Haram terrorists once slaughtered 75 elders in one night in his hometown, Gwoza in Borno State.

Ndume spoke during a stakeholders’ meeting put together by the Senate Committee on Special Duties and the North East Development Commission (NEDC) in Maiduguri.

The committee led by Yusuf Abubakar visited Borno State to review the performance of the NEDC and the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA).

The committee paid courtesy calls on the governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum and also on the Shehu of Borno, explaining to them its mission in the state.

The committee later entered into a stakeholders briefing, where officials of the Nigeria military, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NEMA and that of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency took time to brief it on the situation in the state.

Speaking at the event, Ndume, who is also a member of the committee, noted that the security operatives were trying their best but that insecurity in Borno remained overwhelming and underreported.

He said, “If the Senate committee would take time during their stay to go round some of the camps and even the nearby Konduga local government, we would all better appreciate what the people are facing.

“Even as a serving senator, I still cannot go to Gwoza, my hometown, because it is not safe.

“Our security operatives are trying their best, and we have to give it to them. But the situation is overwhelming. People are dying every day, either from attacks or by hunger. We have lost many lives here.

“There was a time in my home town Gwoza, that about 75 elders most of whom I know personally were dragged by Boko Haram to the town’s abattoir and slaughtered like animals. Only two persons survived because their bodies were covered with other peoples’ blood and the assailants thought they were dead.

“In the same Gwoza, Boko Haram had in a single day lined up young men and summarily shot them dead. These were just some stand out cases.”

Also decrying the effects of hunger, Ndume said, “We don’t know where we would have been or what would have happened to us in Borno State, had there not been the NGOs.

“People die every day here, and I can assure you that even today or this evening, someone may have died of hunger. I am not talking about children – I mean adults.”

READ ALSO: Ndume kicks against amnesty for Boko Haram fighters

He said it was because of the situation in the North East he came up with NEDC and “I pushed for its formation, not for anything else but to see how our people could be helped out of this ugly situation. And so far, we are impressed with the kind of work they are dong.

“But sadly, the amount of money at the disposal of the commission is not adequate to solve the humanitarian challenges facing Borno State alone.”

In his speech, the NEDC Managing Director, Mohammed Alkali-Goni, commended the Senate committee for the visit and said that the gesture would help the National Assembly to properly understand the challenges in the region.

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