The death toll in the attack unleashed on three Borno
State villages by Boko Haram fighters has risen to 80.

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen on horseback had
shot dead scores of people in separate attacks on
three villages in the North-East at the weekend.

The attacks were the latest bloodbath in the six-year-
old insurgency by the extremist group aimed at
carving out an Islamic state in the volatile region.
Babakura Kolo, a vigilante fighting Boko Haram, said
68 people were killed in the attack on Baanu village in
Borno State on Friday while residents said another 11
people were shot dead in two other villages on
Saturday and Sunday.

“Reports reached us of an attack on Baanu village late
Friday where Boko Haram gunmen riding on horses
opened fire on the village. Sixty-eight people were
killed in the attack,” Kolo told AFP.
He said the gunmen stormed Baanu around 8.30 pm,
shooting sporadically.

Baanu resident, Aisami Ari who fled the attack to
Maiduguri on Saturday, also confirmed the attack
and the death toll.

“The attackers came on horses around 8.30 pm and
began shooting sporadically. The whole village was
thrown into confusion and everybody fled. We
returned after they had gone and found out they had
killed 68 people in the village,” he said.
“Most of us left the village on Saturday for fear of a
fresh attack,” he added.

A government official, who demanded anonymity,
however put the death toll in Baanu at 56.
Kolo also said four people were killed in another
attack by the fundamentalists in Karnuwa village on
Saturday.
“They shot dead four people in the village, including
the chief imam of the village, his son and two
neighbours,” he said.

A resident, Saleh Musa told AFP of a third attack on
Hambagda on Sunday where they killed seven
villagers and injured five others.

“The attackers arrived on horseback around 2pm
while people were praying in the mosque. They went
straight to the mosque and opened fire on
worshipers,” said Musa who later fled to the nearby
town of Askira Uba.

“They killed seven people, while five others were
injured. I was late for the afternoon prayers and I
was at home preparing to go to the mosque and join
in the prayers when the attack happened.”

Army spokesman in Maiduguri, Col. Tukur Gusau,
and the Borno State government spokesman, Isa
Umar Gusau, said they could not immediately
comment on the attacks.

Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks since
President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in on May
29 and the wave of violence since the regime’s
inauguration has claimed more than 1,000 lives.

The extremists have carried out deadly ambushes
across Nigeria’s borders and in recent weeks suicide
bombers, many of them women, have staged several
attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad.

Boko Haram, which is seeking to carve out a hardline
Islamic state in northeast Nigeria, has killed about
15,000 people and displaced 1.5 million since 2009.
An 8,700-strong Multi-National Joint Task Force,
drawn from Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and
Benin, is expected to combat the insurgents soon.