Boko Haram kills 79 people in northern Nigeria
News Date: 24th August 2013
At least 79 people were killed this week in renewed attacks by Islamist sect Boko Haram in Nigeria's northern state of Borno, local media reported Saturday.
About 50 armed men attacked the village of Baga in Borno on Tuesday, killing 44 residents with knives, reported The Punch newspaper.
"Those who didn't die were left with their eyes gorged out with knives, and several others (were) seriously injured," an official of the National Emergency Management Agency, who did not want to be named, told the newspaper.
Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sinful," has been active in the Muslim north of the West African country since 2009.
Members also killed at least 35 people and injured 14 in Dumba, another village in Borno, on Monday.
"Boko Haram people attacked the village on the grounds that they have refused to cooperate with them, that they refused their message," defence ministry spokesman Chris Olukolade said Friday.
The attacks could not be confirmed earlier since telephone lines have been disconnected in the region, according to Olukolade.
Borno is one of three northern states that were placed under a state of emergency by Nigeria's government in May to curb violent attacks by the group.
Nigerian security agencies were placed on high alert this month, following intelligence reports that Boko Haram plans to carry out bombings in key Nigerian cities after the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, on August 7.
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