Suspected Boko Haram insurgents attacked a remote village in Nigeria's restive Borno State late Sunday night, killing two and setting a church and several homes alight, eyewitnesses said.
"The attack in Pela Birni claimed two lives," local government official Andrew Usman Malgwi told Anadolu Agency by phone Monday. "And I heard a church was affected, too, among other buildings set ablaze."
"Security operatives are on top of the situation there," he added.
Pela Birni, which has a sizeable Christian population, is a remote village in southern Borno's Kwajjafa district of the Haul local government council.
"Gunmen invaded our village at about 10pm on Sunday," villager Musa Anjili told reporters.
He said the attackers, who had been many in number, had carried AK47 rifles, petrol bombs and improvised explosive devices.
"[Gunmen] wrought havoc on poor, innocent civilians… They set our homes ablaze, including the Church of Brethren," Anjili added, saying two people had died of gunshot wounds.
There have also been unsubstantiated claims of a separate Boko Haram attack in Nigeria's northeastern Taraba State, where several people were reportedly killed.
If true, it would represent the first such attack in predominantly-Christian Taraba State.
A hitherto peaceful organization that had preached against corruption, Boko Haram suddenly turned violent in 2009 following the murder of its leader, Mohamed Yusuf, while in police custody.
In the years since, the group has been blamed for thousands of terrorist acts, including attacks on churches and security posts across Nigeria's northern region, especially Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.
Although it claims to want an Islamist government in the region, Nigerian Muslims – most of whom reject Boko Haram as un-Islamic – have also been targeted by the militant group.
By Rafiu Ajakaye
englishnews@aa.com.tr
