Boko Haram destroys Mubi churches with rocket launchers

Some residents who fled Mubi town, Adamawa State shortly after the Boko Haram terrorist group attacked the town, have said that the insurgents used special rocket-propelled grenades to burn down churches. One of the priests, who spoke with newsmen on the telephone and who simply identified himself as Rev. Yakubu, said that the terrorists had started burning down the churches before he ran out of the town. The insurgents captured Mubi town on October 30, 2014 in a daytime raid after attacking the military installation there, chasing soldiers and residents out of the town and killing many. Apart from the forceful conversion of some Christians to Islam, Yakubu said that the Boko Haram insurgents slaughtered those who refused to be converted. “Many of these atrocities are not being reported,” he said. He added that the sect used rocket-propelled launchers to take down the churches in the town and took over the buildings. He said, “Before I fled Mubi, the insurgents burnt down many churches and right now, the recent report I got was that all the churches in the town have been burnt. In just some hours, they destroyed what we laboured for so many years to build. “Most of the churches were built of iron sheets and many were uncompleted buildings; the insurgents have destroyed everything. Some of my colleagues who were trapped in the town told me that the terrorists used rocket-propelled grenades to burn down the churches. “After they attacked our town, we all fled because they were taking over buildings and slaughtering some pastors. I spent four days wandering in the bush. Everyone was running for their lives. Some local security groups accompanied us. We all ran for our lives. The security guards got us to the Nigeria-Cameroon border where we rested for a while.” Yakubu also said that hundreds of Nigerians who fled Mubi and the neighbouring villages had since died of hunger and sickness during the course of fleeing. He said, “We fled to Cameroon on foot. Some of us were eventually rescued out of the bush through the intervention of some missionaries in the villages there. They helped us find our way back to Nigeria and that was how I found my way to Maiduguri for now. “I saw multitude of Nigerians running for their lives – from Mubi to Cameroon. I saw so many women who abandoned their children while scampering into safety. There was no water, no food. As of the time of leaving the bush, hundreds of people had fainted, many losing their lives. Up till now, thousands are still missing. “They cut off the head of a pastor because he refused to be converted to Islam. I have seen many die because of hunger and sickness. I have since lost hope in the Nigerian government.”