Suspected Boko Haram Gunmen Kill 37 Across Five Villages Near Maiduguri

Chief of Army Staff visiting troops at the front.

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen killed 37 people in raids on five villages around Maiduguri, the capital of northeast Nigeria's Borno state, a military source and a local village defence group said on Friday, Reuters reports.

The Islamist militants, who arrived on motorcycles and in four-wheel drive vehicles, fired into houses and shot fleeing locals during Wednesday evening and the early hours of Thursday, the military source said.

"Reports indicated a total of 37 people were killed by the insurgents during the separate attacks," said the source who asked to remain unnamed.

Malum Idrissa, a member of a village defence group known locally as the Civilian Joint Task Force, also told Reuters the death toll was 37 and said the villages were around 90 km (56 miles) from Maiduguri.

Details of the attack emerged a day after new President Muhammadu Buhari held a summit with regional counterparts to set up a joint military force to counter Boko Haram.

Premium times reports “What we saw in the villages was really horrifying”, Mr. Ajimi told journalists on phone. “Unlike before that they would sometimes gather people before they begin to open fire on them, the terrorists this time around, announced their arrival with sporadic shootings and throwing of what looked like petrol bombs on houses, which led to many homes being burnt down”.

“Most of those that were attacked were older men and youth. While many whose homes were razed down got injured by fire or bullets. Many people are still missing but we believe that they will still come to Damboa or Biu town so that they can reunite with their families. I must say Boko haram has almost wiped out the attacked villages. ”

Damboa is 85km south of Maiduguri. It is also one of the Borno local government areas that share borders with the dreaded Sambisa forest which the Boko Haram says it still controls despite the Nigerian military’s claim of destroying their camps.

The militant Islamist group has killed thousands and left around 1.5 million displaced during a six-year insurgency during which it has tried to create an Islamic caliphate in the northeast of Africa's most populous nation and top oil exporter.

Maiduguri, the city closest to the scene of the attacks, this week became the new site of the Nigerian military command centre for operations to fight Boko Haram.

More than 80 people were killed in bomb blasts in the city last week, amid a resurgence in activity by the insurgents.