More than 100 people in north-eastern Nigeria are feared dead following attacks allegedly by Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, the Daily Post newspaper reported on Sunday.
The attacks, carried out on the first day of Ramadan, targeted five churches near the city of Chibok, where churchgoers were ambushed and killed on their way to Christian services. The militants then attacked civilians in neighbouring Kautikari and set buildings on fire.
On April 14, Boko Haram abducted more than 200 schoolgirls from their dormitory in Chibok. There is no trace of the girls’ whereabouts.
Boko Haram has killed more than 2,000 people in Nigeria’s north this year alone. When it first launched attacks in 2009, the insurgents mainly targeted Christians under the pretext of wanting to establish an Islamic state.
Since mid-2013, Boko Haram has focused its attacks on government security forces as well as both Christian and Muslim civilians in their homes, markets, hospitals and schools.