Boko Haram terrorists have reportedly killed 66 people in two attacks in the Bama and Monguno areas of Borno State.
Local media outlets reported that the first attack occurred Friday night in Darul Jamal, a village in Bama, where 61 men and three women, who had recently been resettled from the Government Science Secondary School IDPs camp in Bama, were massacred.
Those killed include seven identified as drivers and six as labourers from Maiduguri.
The terrorists reportedly burnt down 20 houses and 10 buses as residents fled to safer areas.
The latest attack has been described as recording the highest fatalities in the Bama Local Government Area since the insurgents took over its headquarters more than 10 years ago.
Speaking with journalists in Maiduguri on Saturday, Zainab Gimba, the member the House of Representatives for the region, condemned the attack and called on the federal government to improve security in the area.
Military says it killed more than 30 attackers
Meanwhile, the military said Nigerian Air Force jets and ground troops struck back in a joint operation at Darul Jamal, killing more than 30 insurgents, according to Ehimen Ejodame, NAF spokesperson.
“In a series of three precise and successive strikes, the fleeing terrorists were decisively engaged, resulting in the neutralisation of over 30 insurgents,” Mr Ejodame, an air commodore , said in a statement on Saturday.
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He added that reinforcements later secured the town and stabilised the situation.
Meanwhile, the insurgents also killed two immigration officers on Thursday in the Mungono Local Government Area.
The Insurgents reportedly invaded the town at midnight, targeting the immigration office.
These incidentss were less than seven days after the Insurgents killed seven people in Gwoza and Nigerian Army reported several killing of the Insurgents in different operations across the state.
Darul Jamal was among the latest communities resettled by the Borno State government after years of displacement caused by Boko Haram’s occupation of Bama, one of the hardest-hit areas during the insurgency. Despite recent military gains, the region remains vulnerable to raids.