Abuja - At least 14 people were killed, dozens injured and an entire village burned down in the latest attack perpetrated by Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno, local sources said on Sunday.
The insurgents rode on bicycles late Friday, shooting sporadically and setting ablaze houses in Kimba village, located in Biu district of Borno State, said Musa Illiya, a survivor.
“People ran in different directions as they heard sounds of gun and the attackers sprayed their bullets, carting away their food and burned down our homes. It was hellish and a gory sight,” said the witness.
Local authorities said residents who fled the village were relocated to a camp of internally displaced persons in Biu district of the province on Saturday.
“We appeal to government to send in more relief materials and food to assist these victims because it was almost an entire village taken into this refugee camp,” said Mohammed Biu, a coordinator at the camp. Boko Haram has since 2009 waged a campaign of violence in Nigeria in an effort to establish an Islamic state.
It has killed about 13 000 people and kidnapped hundreds, with surrounding countries such as Niger, Chad and Cameroon affected. Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said efforts are underway to persuade the insurgent group to embrace peace in the interest of the nation.
Buhari had earlier given military chiefs a December deadline to end the insurgency of Boko Haram.
The army said it has worked hard to meet up with the deadline and that troops deployed in the theatre of insurgency are mopping up areas where Boko Haram fighters were routed.
Xinhua