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- Boko Haram jihadists killed at least seven people in the village of Pemi.
- The gunmen also attacked Garkida.
- The Department of State Services issued a warning Tuesday about planned attacks.
Boko Haram jihadists killed at least seven people in an assault on Christmas Eve on a village in the restless northeast of Nigeria, local sources told AFP on Friday.
Security agencies had warned in recent days of an increased risk of attack during the Christian holiday.
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Fighters on trucks and motorcycles stormed Pemi, a predominantly Christian village in Borno state on Thursday, firing “indiscriminately” and setting buildings ablaze, said Abwaku Kabu, leader of the militia.
In many parts of Nigeria, communities have turned to armed vigilantes or militias, working alongside the army, for self-defense.
“The terrorists killed seven people, burned 10 houses and looted food that was to be distributed to residents to celebrate Christmas,” Kabu said.
A body was found Friday morning, said local community leader Ayuba Alamson, bringing the death toll to seven.
Another attack
The number of victims could rise as villagers fled into the bush during the attack and the whereabouts of some people are still unknown.
The attackers, who drove from the nearby Sambisa forest enclave, looted medical supplies from a hospital before setting it on fire, the militia leader said, adding that they also burned a church and kidnapped a priest.
The town is located just 20 km from Chibok, where Boko Haram abducted more than 200 schoolchildren six years ago.
Separately on Thursday, gunmen attacked another Christian community in Garkida, in neighboring Adamawa state, looting pharmacies and food supplies before setting houses on fire, residents told AFP.
There were no reports of casualties from that attack.
Nigeria’s security agency, the Department of State Services, issued a warning Tuesday about planned attacks.
The DSS called on Nigerians “to be more vigilant and report strange movements”, while ensuring that it was “collaborating with other sister agencies to ensure that adequate measures are taken to protect lives and property.”
President Muhammadu Buhari in a statement Thursday “reiterated his administration’s promise to remain adamant in confronting the Boko Haram insurgency as well as other forms of criminality.”
“For me, providing security to all residents of the country remains an article of faith,” Buhari said in a written Christmas message.
The 78-year-old man urged citizens to offer “intelligence / information on the activities of armed bandits, insurgents and other criminal elements within their communities to put an end to this plague.”
The decade-long conflict in northeast Nigeria has killed 36,000 people and displaced around 2 million from their homes, according to the United Nations.
The violence has spread to neighboring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, prompting countries in the region to form a military coalition to fight jihadist groups.
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