Survivors of the Ngoshe attack fled to neighboring Pulka. screenshot from video
Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram attacked Ngoshe village in the Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State in northeastern Nigeria in early March following coordinated attacks on Konduga, Marte, Jakana, and Mainok, also in Borno State. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds displaced. The local Christian community has rallied round and taken in some of the displaced. But weeks later, many have yet to receive assistance from the authorities.
John Thuma, an evangelist in the community, told Christian Solidarity International (CSI) that the attack on Ngoshe began at about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3 and lasted almost the entire night.
People slaughtered like animals
“Dozens of people were killed, and their bodies were still lying in the streets. Relatives cannot return to the village to bury their dead,” he said days after the attack.
Thuma’s wife, who barely escaped the massacre, described the brutality she witnessed. “Many were slaughtered like animals and their heads severed from their bodies,” she said.
Boko Haram released a propaganda video showing the aftermath of the attacks in Ngoshe. In the video, a voice can be heard saying, “Infidels! Allah curse you,” while displaying the severed head of a man, reportedly a Christian.
In another online video, the terrorist group boasted: “People in this town are saying that we cannot conquer Ngoshe. With the help of Allah, we have already conquered the town, and by the grace of Allah we are going to stay in Ngoshe and change its name to a caliphate. At the end of Ramadan, we will observe the Eid-el-Fitr prayer inside Ngoshe.
“We have slaughtered them, abducted their women and children, and enslaved them. They are our legal property to use as ordained by Allah.”
Hundreds displaced and abducted
Survivors who spoke to CSI said some of the injured had to walk many kilometers to reach health facilities in Pulka, the nearest village. Hundreds of women and children sought refuge in the village. But both authorities and survivors reported that hundreds remained unaccounted for, with estimates suggesting that more than 300 people may have been abducted.
During a visit to Pulka the day after the attack, Borno State Governor Prof. Zulum told survivors that the attack was a response to ongoing military operations in the Sambisa Game Reserve, located close to Gwoza.
“What we witnessed yesterday was largely a result of insurgents being pushed out from their strongholds,” Zulum said. “The Mandara Hills remain a major security concern. The insurgents descended from the hills to attack this town.Therefore, I call on the Nigerian Army and the Federal Government to intensify efforts to clear the Mandara Hills of insurgents.”
U.S. Army deployed in the area
The attack took place despite the presence of U.S. troops in the area. They were deployed to northeastern Nigeria after President Donald Trump’s intervention over the killings of Christians in central and northeastern Nigeria by radical Islamist terrorist groups seeking to establish an Islamic caliphate.
In early February, reports indicated that three U.S. aircraft carrying troops and weapons arrived in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, bringing the first group of roughly 100 US personnel.
However, the spokesperson for Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters, General Samaila Uba, stated that “these personnel do not serve in a combat capacity and will not assume a direct operational role.” Other reports indicated that the U.S. troops were deployed “to train the West African nation’s armed forces and assist with intelligence in their battle against growing security threats from Islamist militants and other armed groups.”
For now, the U.S. intervention appears to have had little immediate impact in preventing the massacres of Christians and moderate Muslims in central and northeastern Nigeria, regions where Christians suffer some of the highest levels of persecution in the world.
A congressional report submitted to the U.S. president outlined several possible ways the United States could intervene further. While the report is still under consideration, hundreds of Christians continue to die in Nigeria.
Victims’ long wait for assistance
Meanwhile, survivors of the Ngoshe attack reported weeks later that promised government assistance had not materialized. “The government pledged to send money and food, but we have seen nothing,” said one person, who requested anonymity. “If they have brought anything, as a Christian, I have received nothing and have not even been informed about any distribution.”
Rev Charles Ishidi, pastor of Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) Pulka, told CSI that families in Pulka had taken a number of people fleeing the attack into their homes. And in the COCIN church compound, 99 men, women and children had taken refuge, he said.
On Sunday, March 22—two weeks after the attack—Borno State Governor Zulum paid another visit to Pulka to oversee the distribution of aid items, including rice, corn, mattresses and clothing, as well as cash to victims of the insurgency.
“He advised the people of Ngoshe to be patient as the federal government in partnership with the State government is doing everything to secure the community,” commented a report in the newspaper Leadership.
