Dozens of people have been killed after suspected fighters from the Boko Haram extremist group stormed a village in northeastern Nigeria, setting fire to shops and homes.
The attack took place on Sunday afternoon.
“About 150 suspected Boko Haram militants on more than 50 motorcycles armed with rifles and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) attacked Mafa ward,” said Dungus Abdulkarim, a police spokesman in Yobe state where the village is located.
“They killed many people and burnt many shops and houses. We are yet to determine the actual number of people killed in the attack.”
Abdulkarim said the attack was an apparent revenge for the killing of two suspects Boko Haram fighters by local vigilantes.
Yobe is one of the three states on the front line of a 15 years of rebellion by Boko Haram and other extremist groups that have killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million people. Armed groups have strengthened their position by working with gangs of criminals known as “bandits”, who raid villages, kill and kidnap residents and burn houses after looting them.
Officials said efforts are on to confirm the number of people killed in Mafa.
“It has been established that at least 81 people were killed in the attack,” Bulama Jalaluddin said.
“By the time soldiers reached Mafa to exhume the bodies, fifteen bodies had been buried by their relations. Besides, some dead victims from nearby villages caught in the attack were taken away by their relatives and buried before the arrival of the troops. Many people are still missing and their whereabouts are unknown.”
An army officer who accompanied the commanding officer of the army to Mafa from Yobe on Monday evening said the road to the village was littered with explosives, which the troops managed to defuse.
“We recovered 37 bodies and brought them to Babangida General Hospital,” the official told Reuters news agency. He declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Modu Mohammed, who lives in Mafa, said many more residents are missing and the death toll is estimated at over 100. He said some of the bodies were still in the bush.
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