Gwoza is a border town with Cameroun, and 135 kilometres southeast of Maiduguri, the state capital.
The abducted girls, according to a resident of Warabe, Hamba Tada, in an SMS text message to The Guardian, are teenagers between the ages of 12 and 15.
“The abductors of our children on Monday night did not cause any damages to our lives or property in Warabe and the other village Wala, five kilometres from us.
What happened was that the gunmen descended from hills tops of Gava, Hwa’a and Chikedeh with AK 47 rifles slung over their shoulders and forcefully took our daughters away to the Sambisa Forest.
“They evacuated some of our grains, and carried away livestock into a waiting pickup van, while the abducted girls were thrown into an 18-seater bus, before the gunmen drove away into the night at about 11.00 p.m. last night.”
He said the gunmen had warned the villagers against alerting any security personnel on the abduction of the girls, as they will deal with them if they return from the Sambisa Forest for another operation.
On how the girls were abducted, another resident, Ishaku Bremcha, said: “There was a twin ambush by gunmen that night along Guduf-Gava route of Gwoza Hills.
The gunmen came through the settlements of Hwa’a, Chikedeh, and Guduf-Wala hills down to Wala Kasa, and proceeded to Dure village, west of Gwoza town then vanished with the 11 teenagers into Sambisa Forests that night
“The abductors did not wound or kill any of us in Warabe and Wala, but took away our young daughters into the forests, after warning us not report the kidnappings.”
Confirming the incident yesterday in Maiduguri, the Borno State Commissioner of Police, Tanko Lawal, said some armed hoodlums attacked two villages in Gwoza Council and abducted about a dozen teenagers.
He said no live and property were destroyed in the Monday night incident.
Meanwhile, the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, has condemned the abduction while also expressing the willingness of the British Government to help Nigeria.
In a statement issued yesterday by the Head of Press and Public Affairs, British High Commissioner, Rob Fitzpatrick, Hague described the abduction as ‘disgusting and immoral’, reiterating the UK offer of help.
Speaking at a Council of Europe meeting in Vienna yesterday, Hague said: “Using girls as the spoils of war and the spoils of terrorism is disgusting and immoral. It should show everybody across the world that they should not give any support for such a vile organisation.”
He added: “It is another example of why we have set up the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative.
As you know, I will be hosting a global summit in London next month to help countries including Nigeria improve the way they tackle the consequences of sexual violence in conflict and make sure that those responsible are called to justice. Recently we persuaded Nigeria to join that campaign.
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