World
The Tragic Return to Mafa: Community Faces Deadly Assault by Boko Haram
Explore the harrowing account of Mafa’s community as they grapple with a deadly assault by Boko Haram. This tragic return reveals the ongoing struggles and resilience of those affected by violence and instability in the region.
The Tragic Return to Mafa: A Community’s Heartbreaking Decision
After enduring threats from Boko Haram fighters, the residents of Mafa, a village located in northeast Nigeria’s Yobe State, faced a harrowing choice. For over a decade, this extremist group had wreaked havoc, claiming the lives of tens of thousands in the surrounding cross-border scrubland. Driven by fear and uncertainty, the villagers fled their homes in search of safety.
Approximately two weeks following their evacuation in late July, a local official reportedly reassured them that it was safe to return. “The government assured us that everything is OK and nothing is going to happen,” stated Mai-Bano Kanembu, the community head of Mafa.
Despite the official’s denial of encouraging their return, the villagers made the fateful decision to come back home. What transpired next was a devastating tragedy that unfolded last Sunday. Armed fighters descended upon Mafa, resulting in the death of dozens of villagers, primarily men and boys, while the village was set ablaze. According to Mr. Kanembu and Ibrahim Hassan, a local farmer involved in the grim task of recovering bodies, at least 170 lives were lost, with many more individuals reported missing. A statement outlining the group’s grievances against the village was discovered at the scene, attributed to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter faction of Boko Haram.
This brutal assault marked a horrifying escalation in a conflict that has persisted for over a decade, characterized by violence from Islamist extremists. Notably, last year, this very group was responsible for three of the 20 deadliest terrorist attacks globally, as documented by the Institute for Economics and Peace’s Global Terrorism Index. However, the death toll from the attack on Mafa eclipsed the fatalities from all three of those attacks combined. This incident came on the heels of another significant attack in West Africa, where a different terrorist group reportedly killed as many as 400 individuals in Barsalogho, a town in Burkina Faso, on August 24, according to accounts from victims’ relatives.