Tears as Anambra buries 13 Boko Haram victims

There was an outpouring of emotions on Thursday at Adazi-Nnukwu, Anambra State, as hundreds of people showed up for the burial of the 13 victims of the suspected Boko Haram attacks of December 28, 2011, January 5 and January 6 in Mubi, Adamawa State.

The victims, 12 men and one woman, were killed by gunmen days after Boko Haram claimed resposiblities for the killing of dozens of Christian worshippers at Madalla, near Abuja, and Jos, Plateau State on Christmas Day. One of the victims was from Agulu, while the 12 others came from Adazi Nnukwu.

The President General of the Adazi NnukwuTown Development Union, Chief B.C. Enemuo, faulted the comments credited to the Adamawa State Government that the deceased were killed over business deals.

“The cold blooded massacre of Adazi Nnukwu citizens on the 5th and 6th January 2012 absolutely had nothing to do with business disagreements or leadership contest as is being foisted on the minds of the general public by callous and insensitive agents of the ex-Governor Murtala Nyako’s administration,” Enemuo said.

The community also called for adequate compensation for the families of all those killed in the Mubi attack.

The Catholic Bishop of Awka, Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor, who preached at the burial mass, said while other nations were contending with natural disasters, Nigeria was in the throes of human disaster perpetrated by Boko Haram.

“It is painful and shocking to have to bury 13 people whose lives have been wasted by deranged individuals. But they are all Catholics who died in the Lord. May their soils rest in the bosom of the Lord,” he said.

While condemning any attempt to avenge the killings of Christians and Igbo in the North, the bishop said government and the security agencies must bring an end to the loss of lives and threat to national unity.

Though the Adamawa State Government was not represented at the event, Anambra State Governor Peter Obi announced a N1m compensation for each of the families of the deceased courtesy of the northern state.

He said the governor of the state would eventually visit Adazi Nnukwu to condole with the families of the deceased.

Obi also said in addition to the scholarships that the Anambra State Government would offer to the children of the deceased, each of the families would get N1m.

As they mourned, the people cried for urgent measures to secure the lives and property of Nigerians irrespective of where they reside and work. They also spoke of the need for political solutions to the security problems facing the country.