Feb 12 (Reuters) - Gunmen from Islamist
sect Boko Haram killed 51 people in an attack on a town in
northeast Nigeria, witnesses said on Wednesday, in a region
where President Goodluck Jonathan's troops are struggling to
contain its insurgency.
Dozens of Boko Haram fighters speeding along in trucks
painted in military colours and armed with automatic weapons and
explosives stormed Konduga local government area in Borno state
at around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, burning houses and shooting fleeing
villagers, two witnesses said.
The insurgents also took 20 young girls from a local college
hostage, a teacher said. The military confirmed the attack took
place. It was still assessing the number of casualties.
"It is barbaric and unfortunate," Borno State Governor
Kashim Shettima said when he visited the town on Wednesday.
"About 60 to 70 percent of the town has been burnt down but
we are willing to rebuild it," he added, pledging to spend 100
million naira ($609,000) on emergency materials.
Boko Haram, which wants to impose sharia law on a country
split roughly equally between Christians and Muslims, has killed
thousands over the past four and a half years and is considered
the biggest security risk in Africa's top oil exporter and
second largest economy after South Africa.
($1 = 164.2 naira)
(Reporting by Ibrahim Mshelizza and Lanre Ola; Writing by Joe
Brock; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
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