With the daily increasing number of attacks in the north, it is clear that the terrorist group Boko Haram is poised to annihilate Nigeria’s north-east. In a month, the country has suffered more deadly attacks than it did in 2012. Beginning from the first of July, there have been consistent reports of bombings and indiscriminate killings centred in the north.

On the first of July, Boko Haram reportedly killed 97 people in the village of Kukawa, Borno State. Witnesses say the group spared no one, as they opened fire on worshippers at various mosques, and on families in their homes. To ensure that no one survived, they set the corpses ablaze.

On Thursday, the 2nd of July, there were two attacks by female suicide bombers in Malari village, Maiduguri. These attacks claimed the lives of 12 people, the bombers inclusive, and left 13 persons injured. The following day, 29 deaths were recorded as gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect attacked two villages in Maiduguri, Borno State, at different times. Residents say the men sporadically shot at people and razed houses.

The country experienced momentary peace on Saturday, but the group got back to unleashing terror on northerners for three consecutive days, the 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th of July. In Jos, 44 people were killed, and 47 left injured. Suicide bombing claimed the lives of 6 persons on Monday at a Redeem church in Potiskum, Yobe. And on Tuesday, a bombing at Sabon Gari Local Government Council, Zaria, left 25 dead, and 32 injured.

Shortly after a two-day pause on the 8^th and 9^th, the group ran riot for 8 days, back-to-back. There were 5 attacks in Borno state, with a total of over 50 deaths. 1 in Jos; fortunately no one was killed. Gombe and Yobe suffered multiple bomb blasts on the 16^th and 17^th respectively. The attacks which were perpetuated by female suicide bombers reportedly claimed a 100 lives in total, and left quite a number of injured people.

This week alone, there have been multiple bombings in the north-east. Eight people were killed by the group, during an attack on a highway in Damaturu on Monday 20^th July. The following Tuesday, an attack in Buratai, Maiduguri injured eight, and killed two people. And on Wednesday, twin bomb blasts at bus stations in Gombe, took the lives of about 40 people, leaving over 100 injured.

In less than a month, the death toll in northern Nigeria, especially the north-east,  has risen to over 400. Clearly the group is living up to its promise of launching attacks that will be “stronger than before”. What is the way forward Nigeria? Do you just stay back and watch the north-east succumb to the tyranny of terrorism?