On the night of 5-6 May 2014, Boko Haram militants attacked the

twin towns A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

Gamboru Gamboru (or Gamburu) is a market town in Borno State, northeast Nigeria, near the Cameroon border. It is the administrative centre of Ngala local government area. A 2013 IRIN report indicated that pharmacies in Gamboru Ngala were subject to at ...

and

Ngala Ngala is a local government area of Borno State, Nigeria, adjacent to the border with Cameroon. Its headquarters are in the town of Gamboru Ngala. It has an area of 1,465 km and a population of 237,071 at the 2006 census. The postal code ...

in Borno State, northeastern Nigeria. About 310 residents were killed in the 12-hour

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

, and the town was largely destroyed. During the same night, Boko Haram abducted eight girls aged between 12–15 from northeast Nigeria, a number later raised to eleven.

Background

Gamboru Ngala accommodated the security garrison, which had left the town before the attack to pursue the perpetrators of the

Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping On the night of 14–15 April 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students aged from 16 to 18 were kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School at the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria. P ...

. Borno State is considered pivotal for Boko Haram. According to the Nigerian senator

Ahmed Zanna Khalifa Ahmed Zanna (5 January 1955 – 16 May 2015) was a Nigerian politician who was elected Senator for Borno Central, in Borno State, on the 9 April, 2011 national elections at the age of 55. He was elected under the People's Democratic ...

and several residents, the security forces left Gamboru Ngala after Boko Haram militants had spread rumours that the

kidnap In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

ped schoolgirls had been spotted elsewhere.

Massacre

Armed with

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms d ...

s and RPGs, the militants attacked the town on two

armored personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Ac ...

s, stolen from the

Nigerian military The Nigerian Armed Forces (NAF) are the combined military forces of Nigeria. It consists of three uniformed service branches: the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, and Nigerian Air Force. The President of Nigeria functions as the commander-in-chief o ...

several months earlier. The militants opened fire on the people at a busy market that was open at night when temperatures cool. Having set homes ablaze, the militants gunned down residents who tried to escape from the fire. The official death toll was first set at 200 on 7 May. Zanna and local resident Waziri Hassan both reported at least 336 deaths.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamboru Ngala massacre, 2014 2014 murders in Nigeria 2014 mass shootings in Africa 2010s in Borno State 2010s massacres in Nigeria Arson in Nigeria Arson in the 2010s Attacks on buildings and structures in 2014 Attacks on buildings and structures in Nigeria Massacres perpetrated by Boko Haram Islamic terrorist incidents in 2014 Marketplace attacks Mass murder in Borno State Mass shootings in Nigeria Massacres in 2014 May 2014 crimes in Africa May 2014 events in Nigeria Terrorist incidents in Borno State Terrorist incidents in Nigeria in 2014 Attacks in Nigeria in 2014