Militant Islamist movement Boko Haram have continued to seize towns, kidnapping 20 girls and killing dozens of other locals in Borno state in the past week.
A member of the local community in Lassa reported that mostly old men and women were killed by the Muslim extremists as they siege town. According to the source, Daniel Ibrahim, there were pleas for more troop deployment and request for air and land operations. However, these requests only fell on deaf ears.
The Islamic extremists have used methods of suicide bombings, massacres and abductions, to advance their reign in Nigeria. Now they even strap bombs onto cows and herd them towards human settlements before they detonate the explosives.
Lassa town has been declared part of the Islamic state after having been initially stormed last November 29. However, the insurgents only seized the area last Wednesday, December 3.
Boko Haram rebels' reason for expansion is to impose the Islamic Law, otherwise known as sharia, throughout the country.
This situation brings back this July's incident where more than 200 schoolgirls were mass-abducted from school by this Al Qaeda splinter group. Almost six months later only 50 girls have reportedly managed to escape.