The Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) has claimed responsibility for the attack that led to the deaths of 34 villagers in Yobe State, citing revenge for alleged grievances as their their reason for the massacre.
Residents in Mafa village of Tarmuwa Local Government Area of Yobe State were reportedly attacked and killed in the early hours of Monday, September 2, 2024 by Boko Haram terrorists.
It was gathered that on Tuesday morning about 86 bodies had been recovered and deposited in the hospitals while the search for the remaining victims was still on.
In a letter released by the attackers, ISWAP took responsibility for the attack, because the village allegedly provided information to the military, which led to the deaths of its members.
“This is a message from the soldiers of the Caliphate in the West Africa Province to the leaders, mukhtars, and the rest of the residents and farmers in the town of Mafa and the villages around it.”
“You have been tempted to remain in your countries in safety. The soldiers of the Caliphate will not harm you, nor threaten you with your money, nor hinder you from any activity of yours, whether agriculture, trade, etc., until you have arrogantly raised yourselves to a position in which you believe that your hands will reach our brothers with harm and remain uninterrupted.
“You have harmed our brothers in the past days in the town of (Bangaro) and its environs, and you cooperated and sympathized with the apostates in killing our brothers, and when we arrived in the area, we did not harm you.
“Rather, we limited ourselves to those whose hands were stained with the blood of our brothers, and who were attacked by their weapons, according to the information we found. We thought that by doing so we had warned you with the language of war, hoping that you would be deterred.
“However, this increased your arrogance and arrogance, so you repeated the same crime in the month of Safar.”
