Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram attacked a village mostly populated by Christians on Christmas Eve, killing at least 11 people.
The official balance of victims in the village of Pemi, in northeastern Nigeria, was increased this Friday by local sources, quoted by AFP. Pemi is just 20 km from Chibok, where jihadists kidnapped 200 girls from a school in 2014.
The jihadists burst into the village with motorbikes and trucks, not far from the border with Cameroon, firing indiscriminately. According to the French agency’s report, during the attack the jihadists looted and then set the hospital on fire, abducting the priest and setting the church on fire.
“The terrorists killed seven people, burned ten houses and ransacked food stores that were to be distributed to celebrate Christmas,” said local militia leader Abwaku Kabu on Thursday. Number that would be updated this Friday to 11 dead.
“Four more bodies were found by volunteers in the nearby undergrowth,” added community leader Ayuba Alamson. “The death toll is now 11 people,” he concluded.
The number of fatalities may also increase, as residents fled to the bush during the attack and some remain missing.
According to the local militia leader, the attackers came from the Sambisa forest, a well-known refuge for ‘jihadists’.
In various areas of Nigeria, communities had to form armed self-defense militias that work alongside the military.
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