Tears in Nigeria as Cameroonian soldiers kill 70 Nigerian civilians in name of Boko Haram

Cameroonian soldiers on Sunday killed about 70 residents of Kirawa-Jimni, a village in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.
According to Associated Press (AP), the troops opened fire on the residents while pursuing Boko Haram insurgents. The soldiers, upon entering Kirawa- Jimni, a border community near Cameroon, located around the area where Boko Haram declared a caliphate in August 2014, were said to have asked the villagers where the terrorists were, before opening fire.
According to Muhammed Abba, the Deputy Commander, Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF), a local vigilance outfit, “we didn’t know what was going on, but the Cameroonian troops suddenly appeared and began to ask us for Boko Haram terrorists. Before we could say a word, they started firing. Their action scared most of us and we began to run. By the time people returned on Monday, we found 70 corpses littering the ground.”
Corroborating his account, Abbas Gava, the spokesman of Civilian JTF, said he received calls from residents of Ashigashiya village near the border with Cameroon. He said: “We heard that the soldiers were in hot pursuit of the Boko Haram terrorists who ran into Kirawa-Jimni. The soldiers did not waste time upon arrival as they immediately opened fire on the villagers,” he said.
Kirawa-Jimni is located around the area where the insurgents declared a caliphate in August last year. Many Gwoza residents, who fled to Maiduguri and Yola in Adamawa State, claimed that the terrorists are still in the area. About 150 people were reportedly killed by Cameroonian troops when they chased Boko Haram insurgents into Nigeria on November 30 this year. The soldiers were also said to have burnt several huts and forced people out of their communities, an allegation the Cameroon’s government denied, saying its military is trained to respect human rights.