In the latest outbreak of violence in Borno state, outside of Maiduguri, suspected Islamist militants are believed to have assassinated 44 members of the mosque during prayers.
Members of a civilian vigilante group working with the military and a state security service agent reported on Monday that they counted 44 bodies at the scene of the attack. Usman Musa of the civilian group said four of the group’s vigilantes were also killed when they responded to calls for help.
The slayings occurred Sunday morning in Konduga town, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) outside Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria’s Borno state.
Along the way from Maiduguri to Konduga, the civilian activists encountered “fierce resistance from heavily armed terrorists,” Musa said.
The state security agent spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
The incident follows two separate gun battles between Nigerian security forces and Boko Haram in Borno last Tuesday, according to a military spokesman in which some 35 people were killed.
allah yakyauta