At least 81 people were killed in an attack on a village by suspected Boko Haram militants in northeast Nigeria, the Borno state government said in a statement released to CNN Wednesday.
Residents said the men attacked the village in armored tanks and trucks filled with guns, according to the government’s statement.
Seven people, including the village head, children and women, were abducted from the Faduma Kolomdi community, described as a nomadic town in northern Borno.
Residents reported that the men gathered the villagers on Tuesday morning and started shooting in the incident which lasted several hours.
One of the villagers who survived the onslaught told the authorities that the attackers came under the cover of being Islamic teachers.
“They gathered us and said they wanted to deliver religious sermon to us. They asked us to submit whatever arm we had. Some villagers gave up their … guns, bow, and arrows.
“Suddenly, they started shooting at will. Even children and women were not spared, Many were shot at close range,” the man, who was not named, said in the statement.
“We have buried 49 corpses here while another 32 corpses were taken away by families from the villages around us.
“The insurgents abducted seven persons, including our village head. They went away with 400 cattle,” the man added.
