The Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) has claimed responsibility for the Sunday attack that led to the killing of 34 villagers in Yobe State.
ISWAP is a factional group of Boko-Haram insurgents, operating mostly in Yobe and northern parts of Borno State.
9News had reported earlier how the terrorists attacked Mafa town, a community in Yobe, killing 34 and setting houses and shops on fire.
The insurgent group claimed responsibility for the attack in a letter written and released in Arabic language.
They said the attack on the village is a response on the community members’ corporation with the military.
The group alleged that members of the community are providing intelligent information to the military on its fight against them.
Translated and quoted by Daily Trust, the letter says, “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.”
Similarly, terrorist group attacked another community in Yobe on Thursday, few days after the mass killing.
