Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents on Tuesday attacked Katarko community in Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State.

A resident in the area, Garga Modu, who confirmed the incident to our reporter via phone, said the insurgents burnt down one primary school and healthcare centre in the community.

He said the insurgents invaded the community at about 5:30 am when they were preparing for early morning prayer.

“When we heard gunshots, we quickly rushed to our houses and alerted our neighbours to run for safety.

“As we were moving to the bush not far from the house, we sighted fire burning the school, so we advance but we later received a call that they had left and as we returned, we found the clinic in our area burning into flames.

“We also learnt that the insurgents headed to the military base where they exchanged fire with the troops.”

No casualties were reported from the side of residents, however, an effort to reach Acting Assistant Director, Army  Public Relations of the Sector 2 Operation Lafiya Dole in Damaturu, Kennedy Anyanwu, on the issue proved abortive.

Meanwhile, Yobe State Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Abubakar Iliya, said that he had visited the community to sympathize with the residents and assess the level of damage on behalf of the state government.

Katarko is a small community less than 29 kilometres from Damaturu the state capital of Yobe State.

Daily Trust