Africa

Boko Haram abducts dozens in NE Nigeria

383722_Boko-Haram-militants

Boko Haram Takfiri militants have abducted dozens of people in northeastern Nigeria over the past two days, a local official says.

Alhaji Shettima Maina, chief of Maffa village in the volatile Borno State, told reporters on Sunday that the militants kidnapped 30 young people in an attack over the weekend.

“Once they invaded our community, they abducted all boys aged … 13 years and above and took them to their base,” Maina said, adding that the militants also kidnapped “all girls aged 11 years and above.”

The local official also said some 17 people were killed across the country’s restive north in the group’s recent assaults, which started on Thursday and went through Saturday evening.

“We buried the remains of the victims in Maffa on Friday,” he added.

At least 60 women and girls were kidnapped following Boko Haram’s attacks on the northeastern towns of Wagga and Gwarta earlier this week. The attacks came despite a truce between the government and the militants.

On April 14, Boko Haram militants kidnapped 276 students from their secondary school in the northeastern town of Chibok, triggering worldwide outrage. Reports say 57 of the girls managed to escape but 219 are still missing.

Earlier in October, the Nigerian government announced that it had reached a temporary truce with Boko Haram in an effort to secure the release of the schoolgirls.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government.

The group claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting attacks and bombings in various parts of Nigeria since the beginning of its operations in 2009.

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