Saudi Embassy condemns terrorist attack, killings of villagers in Yobe

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has condemned the killings of about 100 villages in Mafa village in Tarmuwa Local Government Area of Yobe State.

The embassy in Nigeria, in a statement, said the Saudi authority considered it a treacherous attack while expressing deep sympathy to relatives of victims.

“Embassy expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s condemnation and denunciation of the treacherous terrorist attack that took place in Yobe State, Northeastern Nigeria, which resulted in a number of deaths and injuries,” it said.

“The Embassy reiterates the Kingdom’s complete rejection of violence, terrorism, and extremism. The Kingdom also expresses its sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of the deceased and the government and people of Nigeria.”

Villagers said over 100 persons were killed by terrorists but the state government said 34 casualties were killed on Sunday and since buried on Tuesday.

Reports said the victims were buried at Babangida, the headquarters of the Tarmuwa Local Government of Yobe State, after their bodies were recovered in a search-and-rescue operation led by the Nigerian Army.

The spokesman for the Yobe State Police Command, Dungus Abdulkarim, had on Monday, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, confirmed the terror attack on the Mafa village in the Tarmuwa Local Government Area of Yobe State.

The armed assailants were said to have invaded the sleeping community on Sunday, riding over 50 motorcycles, killing the innocent villagers, and razed their houses.

The Yobe State Deputy Governor, Idi Gubana, led a state government delegation on a visit to the community, where he donated N30m to the families of the victims on Tuesday.

According to Gubuna, Governor Mai Mala Buni was utterly devastated by the killings, and soon visited the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, where he demanded urgent sustainable security cover in Mafa village.

Buni specifically requested the deployment of sufficient troops in Mafa, a bordering village between Borno and Yobe states, to prevent future attacks.