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Gunmen have abducted more than 300 people, including women and children, after attacking the Ngoshe community in Borno State.
The attack occurred on Wednesday night in Ngoshe, a town in the Gwoza Local Government Area, according to local officials and security sources.
Bulama Sawa, an official in the Gwoza area, told the Associated Press that the assault may have been carried out in retaliation for a recent military operation that reportedly killed three commanders of the insurgent group Boko Haram.
Residents said the attackers stormed the community, set fire to buildings and overran a military facility during the raid.
Witnesses said the gunmen burnt houses and shops while firing sporadically before abducting residents from the town.
Military authorities also confirmed that several other communities in the state came under attack within the same period.
A spokesperson for the military, Uba Sani, said troops repelled separate attacks on Konduga, Marte, Jakana and Mainok between Wednesday and early Friday.
According to him, the military described the incidents as “failed attacks” linked to insurgents facing “increasing desperation of terrorist elements under sustained operational pressure across the theatre.”
Sani, however, said some soldiers were killed during the operations.
“A number of brave soldiers paid the supreme price in the line of duty,” he said, adding that a senior officer was also among those killed.
He did not disclose the number of casualties. Meanwhile, a video circulating online shows armed men claiming responsibility for the attack in Ngoshe.
In the footage, the group said it intended to take control of the community and remain there. The attackers also said they abducted many residents from the town.
One of them admitted that they had beheaded both men and women during the assault while speaking in Hausa on behalf of the group.
“People in this town are saying that we cannot conquer Ngoshe. With the help of God, we have already conquered the town. By the grace of God, we are going to stay in Ngoshe and make it part of our province and we are going to do the Eid-el-Fitr Salah after the end of Ramadan in Ngoshe.”
He also revealed that a large number of locals were kidnapped with the goal of turning them into slaves.
“We have slaughtered males and females in Ngoshe and we have enslaved the others. It was Almighty Allah that said that we should enslave them and go with them,” he stated.
Residents who fled the attack said they abandoned their homes and belongings while escaping to nearby communities.
Some survivors complained about elderly residents who were unable to leave the village during the attack, and also the bodies reportedly left behind in the community.
The raid reportedly lasted several hours before air support from the military’s counter-insurgency operation, Operation Hadin Kai, intervened and forced the attackers to retreat into nearby forest areas.
