Death Toll Climbs From Boko Haram Massacre in Nigeria Residents of northeastern town describe horrors of attack, even as many around the country, inured to frequent terror strikes, focus on economic woes By Gbenga Akingbule

Posted By on February 3rd, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/articles/death-toll-climbs-from-boko-haram-massacre-in-nigeria-1454365261

ABUJA, Nigeria—The death toll climbed from Boko Haram’s Saturday night rampage through a refugee camp in northeast Nigeria, as residents buried bodies and terrified survivors ferried wounded to nearby towns for treatment and refuge from another assault.

Government authorities on Monday said the number of dead in the town of Dalori had risen to 65. Another 136 wounded were taken to local hospitals, said Sani Gatti, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency.

The attack, which targeted those fleeing Boko Haram’s violence, was a gruesome reminder of how indiscriminately violent the Islamist insurgency has become in the two years since vigilantes helped push the jihadists from urban centers like Dalori, a suburb of Maiduguri, the largest city in northeast Nigeria. Witnesses described the militants burning down houses as children screamed inside.

Aisami Modu, a local resident who lost his wife and daughter in the attack, which involved suicide bombers and gunmen on motorcycles, said authorities recovered the remains of his 6-year-old daughter, which he immediately buried in accordance with Islamic rites.

“My daughter was found burned to death today.…I have lost my wife,” Mr. Modu said over the phone from Maiduguri, where he fled with other survivors.

Baba Kaka, a 45-year-old fish trader, escaped to join his wife and two daughters, who were attending a wedding in Maiduguri. “I was just running toward the outskirts of the town while gunshots cracked in the air. Before the military came to our rescue, I thought I would be killed.”

Still, the shocking details of Saturday’s assault barely reverberated among many of Nigeria’s 184 million residents, who have become inured to frequent terrorist attacks.

 Newspapers and television stations have instead focused on issues closer to most Nigerians, particularly a crashing economy. A collapse in oil prices has left the government—which depends on crude for three-fourths of its revenue—increasingly cash-strapped. Trading on the stock market has sharply slowed as investors wait to see how far the local currency, the naira, falls.

On Monday, Nigeria’s finance ministry said it would have to borrow about $9 billion to close a widening budget deficit, much of that from the World Bank. It helped shift attention from Boko Haram’s violence, said Azubuike Ishiekwene, the chairman of the editorial board of the local newspaper Leadership.

“Banks are laying people off, a lot of manufacturers are laying people off, the economic hardship is really hitting hard, and that’s a huge distraction,” he said. “I guess that there is sadly, a sense of complacency.”

Boko Haram’s five-year war against the government has left more than 27,000 people dead, according to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. It has also spawned a large population of Nigerians made homeless by the fighting: More than 2.2 million people have fled their towns and villages, often on foot, to escape the conflict, the International Organization for Migration said.

They include Kaka Matsa, a resident of Dalori who on Monday checked into a government-run camp for people displaced by Boko Haram. “I am one of the very lucky few,” he said. “My wife and two children escaped.”

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