Suspected Boko Haram militants roar into Nigerian village on bikes, kill at least 81

Suspected Boko Haram Islamist militants roared into a northeastern Nigerian village on motorcycles, opened fire on a market and set shops and homes ablaze, killing at least 81 people, local officials told AFP on Tuesday.

“Around 150 suspected Boko Haram terrorists armed with rifles and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) attacked Mafa ward on more than 50 motorcycles around 1600 hours on Sunday,” AFP quoted Abdulkarim Dungus, a Yobe state police spokesman, as saying.

Residents said the death toll could be even higher, with villagers still missing and feared dead after fighters chased them into the bush.

The attack took place on Sunday afternoon in Yobe, one of three states at the frontline of an insurgency that has lasted 15 years. Thousands of Nigerians have been killed and more than 2 million displaced.

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Abdulkarim told Reuters the attack in Yobe’s Mafa village was apparent retaliation for the killing of two suspected Boko Haram fighters by local vigilantes.

After shooting at the market and torching buildings, the militants chased other residents into the bush and shot them, Abdulkarim added.

“The terrorists killed many people, but we are yet to ascertain the actual number of casualties,” Abdulkarim said.

A military official who accompanied the army’s commanding officer for Yobe to Mafa on Monday evening said the route to the village had been rigged with explosives, which troops managed to defuse.

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“We recovered 37 corpses and brought them to Babangida General Hospital,” said the official earlier.

Modu Mohammed, a resident, said several more residents were missing and estimated the death toll at over 100. He said some corpses were still in the bush.

With inputs from agencies