LAGOS, Nigeria
At least 56 people were killed and many others were injured in a Boko Haram attack over the weekend in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state, governor Kashim Shettima said.
“They killed 56 people in Baanu village. As I am speaking to you, their corpses still litter the streets of the village,” Shettima said. “[The] Boko Haram crisis is a calamity that befalls us, as the insurgents do not discriminate against anybody before they kill.”
“They don’t care if somebody is a Christian or a Muslim,” he added.
Locals said they believe the death toll is even higher, with some survivors telling reporters that up to 68 people died in the attack.
Boko Haram, which first emerged in the early 2000s by preaching against Nigerian government misrule and corruption, became fanatically violent in 2009 after the death of its leader while in police custody.
