Several people died in northeast Nigeria after armed men of the Boko Haram terror group raided a mostly Christian village and set on fire a church on Christmas Eve, multiple news sources reported Saturday.
At least seven people were killed, based on local sources. Gunmen stormed into Pemi in Borno state, aboard trucks and motorcycles, and unloaded a hail of bullets indiscriminately, a local leader told Agence France-Presse.
Pemi is situated roughly 20 kilometers from Chibok, where the dreaded Boko Haram group abducted over 200 schoolchildren in 2014.
Since 2018, almost every two weeks, Boko Haram has been raiding Chibok, kidnapping and killing the villagers, Nkeki Mutah, chairperson of the Chibok Community in Abuja, said. "They want to wipe Chibok out from the surface of the Earth."
In large parts of Nigeria, local villages have resorted to self-defense to armed vigilantes, who work in tandem with the government's local forces.
"The terrorists killed seven people, set ablaze 10 homes and looted food supplies that were intended for distribution to locals celebrating Christmas," Abwaku Kabu, a militia commander, said. The number of deaths could increase as the locals fled into the bush during the assault, and some are still unaccounted for.
A man who claims to be Abubakar Shekau, commander of one of Boko Haram's affiliates, also claimed the group was behind the abduction of over 300 schoolboys in Nigeria's northwest earlier in November. However, Gov. Aminu Bello Masari dismissed the claim, asserting "local bandits" masterminded the kidnapping.
Separately on Thursday, the armed men attacked another Christian community in Garkida, ransacking pharmacies and food supplies before burning down houses, the villagers said. There were no reports of deaths from that attack.
Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam that prohibits Muslims from participating in activities that do not conform to Islamic laws. In its loose translation, Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden." The group's most notorious attack targeted schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014 and took many captives for years.
The Boko Haram conflict, which has lasted for many years, has claimed the lives of around 36,000 innocent people and displaced 2 million from their homes, the United Nations said.
Meanwhile, Boko Haram killed five Nigerian soldiers and abducted around 35 people in the country's northeastern Borno state, a military source disclosed Sunday.
According to the source, the terror group fired a rocket-propelled grenade on a convoy, which hit one of the vehicles with five soldiers on board.
