Boko Haram militants killed 32 people and kidnapped scores of others
in an attack on the village of Gumsuri in the restive northeast, two
local officials and a witness said Thursday.
The officials, who
requested anonymity, said locals were still counting those abducted in
the attack Sunday in the remote area but that the figure could pass 100
and included women and children.
“After killing our youths, the
insurgents have taken away our wives and daughters,” said Mukhtar Buba,
who fled Gumsuri to the Borno state capital Maiduguri.
Details
took four days to emerge because the mobile phone network has largely
collapsed in the area roughly 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of
Maiduguri, and many of the roads are impassable.
Gamsuri is located on the road that leads to Chibok, where Boko Haram abducted more than 200 girls from a school in April.
One
of the local officials said the village had previously been protected
against Boko Haram violence by a strong vigilante force, but that they
were overpowered in Sunday’s attack.
“For the past one year, the
insurgents have made several attempts to attack Gumsuri but were
resisted by the gallant youths of the village,” he told AFP.
“It is sad that on Sunday, the village was subdued,” he added.
Boko
Haram has repeatedly attacked the vigilante forces which have formed
across the northeast, describing them as legitimate targets for siding
with Nigeria’s military.
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