Johannesburg -
Hunters have killed at least 75 members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram in a northern Nigerian town, daily newspaper Premium Times reported on Thursday.
According to the report, hunters in Maiha were angry about constant killings in northern Nigeria by Boko Haram militants, who had taken control of the town following a battle with government troops on Monday.
“The hunters mobilised and gave the insurgents a hot chase during which many Boko Haram sect members are killed,” Maiha resident Bello Ya'u was quoted as saying.
The hunters recaptured the town from Boko Haram on Wednesday, the website This Day Live reported.
“We had to wake up and fight the bastards that keep plaguing our societies killing innocents souls,” hunter Baba Dauda said.
Bako Goni, coordinator of a grassroots policing force in Maiha's Adamawa state, said in the Premium Times report that more than 2,000 people had signed up to fight Boko Haram there.
They include youth vigilantes, hunters, retired soldiers, paramilitary operatives, artisans and petty traders, Goni said.
Critics accuse the Nigerian government of not deploying sufficient means in the fight against Boko Haram, which has killed thousands of people in its campaign to establish an Islamist state in the country. - Sapa-dpa