BORNO, Niger, Aug. 31 (UPI) — Boko Haram militants attacked a village in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, killing 56.
The Friday attack was not disclosed until Saturday, when Gov. Kashim Shettima broke the news while presenting gifts to the parents of abducted schoolgirls in Maiduguri, Borno’s capital.
“Just yesterday they killed 56 people in Baanu village of Nganzai Local Government, as I am speaking to you their corpses still litter the streets of the village.”
The attack took place about 62 miles north of the Maiduguri. Yuram Musa, who lives there, said the militants shot at some residents while slaughtering others.
The news follows a declaration by Nigeria’s intelligence agency that Boko Haram is seeking to expand its activities into the commercial capital Lagos in the extreme southwest, as well as other parts of the country.
Twelve militants affiliated with the group have been arrested in Lagos so far, as the group’s six-year insurgency in the northeast of the country continues.
Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) attributes Boko Haram’s plan for expansion to increasing pressure from Nigerian military forces seeking to eradicate it.
Founded in 2002, Boko Haram originally focused on opposing Western-style education but engaged in military operations in 2009. It has killed thousands of people mostly in northeastern Nigeria and has abducted hundreds others, including no less than 200 schoolgirls.
Since joining the Islamic State (IS), it has declared a caliphate in the northeast but is facing pressure from military forces that have retaken most of its territory.