Suspected Boko Haram gunmen killed no fewer than 37 people in five villages around Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, a military source and a local village defence group said on Friday.

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

“Reports indicated a total of 37 people were killed by the insurgents during the separate attacks,” said the source who asked not to be named.

A member of a village defence group known locally as the Civilian Joint Task Force, Malum Idrissa, also told Reuters that the death toll was 37 and that the affected villages were 56 miles from Maiduguri.

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

The Boko Haram terror group has killed thousands and left about 1.5 million displaced in the last six years.

The military relocated its command centre to Maiduguri this week for a renewed effort to tackle the Boko Haram activities.

Over 80 people were killed in bomb blasts in the city last week by the insurgents.