At least 17 people were killed and dozens abducted, some of them girls as young as 11, by suspected Boko Haram militants in a series of attacks on Thursday in the central region of Nigeria's northeast Borno State, a local village chief said on Sunday.
“Seventeen persons were killed by the assailants after last Thursday's attack on Ndongo community,” Alhaji Shettima Maina, who is in charge of Maffa village about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of the city of Maiduguri, told journalists in Maiduguri. “We buried the remains of the victims in Maffa on Friday.”
"The insurgents ... grabbed young people, boys and girls, from our region," Maina told the French news agency AFP.
"They took all boys aged 13 and over... and all girls aged 11 and more. According to our information, 30 young people were abducted in the last two days," Maina said on Sunday.
Another village elder, Mallam Ashiekh Mustapha, confirmed the account of the deaths and abductions.
The attack marks the latest in a series of attacks by suspected Boko Haram militants in northern Nigeria despite the announcement of a cease-fire by the Nigeria government and ongoing negotiations with the group in neighboring Chad.
Maina said his village and areas around it were targeted in nearly daily raids by Boko Haram, prompting many residents to flee to the city of Maiduguri for safety.
Some material for this report came from Reuters and AFP.
