LAGOS
A pastor and several women have been abducted by suspected Boko Haram militants in the restive northeast Borno state, according to local sources.
"The gunmen invaded the town last night and took away the women with a pastor," Musadiq Aruwa, a local resident of Firgi, told Anadolu Agency on Monday.
"No news about them has emerged thus far," he said.
"The sad reality is that these kidnappings have been going on for a while now and as are senseless attacks on highways," Aruwa said. "They don't make it to the news."
The local resident could not say how many women were actually abducted by the gunmen, believed to be Boko Haram fighters blamed for spiraling violence across much of Nigeria's northeast.
A source with the in the civilian Joint Task Force (JTF), which has been helping the government fight Boko Haram in Borno, also confirmed the abduction.
"It is true that several women and a pastor have been kidnapped last night in Firgi," said the source, who asked not to be named.
"The local community has already reported the incident to the police, other security agencies and us," added the civilian JTF member.
Police chief Lawan Tanko could not be reached for comments on this latest incident. He was yet to reply to text messages sent to his phone.
This comes amid national outrage over government's and security agencies' seeming inability to give exact update about the many schoolchildren abducted two weeks ago by suspected Boko Haram operatives.
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