Abuja: Suspected Islamist insurgents have killed 44 people in a village in northeast Nigeria by slitting their throats, officials said today.
The pre-dawn attack occurred on Tuesday but the information did not become public until yesterday as phone lines in the region were cut and the village is located in a remote area.
An official of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the attack took place in Dumba village in Borno state, where an Islamic uprising led by the radical Boko Haram militant group has its roots.
The NEMA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the attackers slit the throats of their victims, contradicting an earlier claim by the military that the victims were shot.
He said the strategy was adopted to avoid sound from gunfire which attracts security forces. According to him, some survivors' eyes were gouged out by the suspected Boko Haram attackers.
Earlier this week, a military spokesman announced the death of Boko Haram chief Ibrahim Shekau but attacks by the militants have not abated.
Boko Haram's ultimate objective is to have an Islamic state within or in the whole of Nigeria and it has killed more than 3,000 people in bombings and shootings since it began its campaign in 2009.
