Thirty seven people were reportedly killed in Adamawa, north-east Nigeria by men suspected to be members of the Boko Haram Islamic militant sect.
This came a day after about fifty students of Federal Government College, Yobe were massacred by members of the terrorist group.
Reports from Adamawa suggest that the militants staged three separate attacks on innocents citizens in Shuwa, Kirchinga and Michika. A theological college was also affected in the deadly attack.
According to information received, the gunmen divided themselves into three groups and separately attacked the three locations.
In Shuwa, several buildings were burnt, including a Christian theological college and a section of a secondary school.
A local resident, Kwaje Bitrus, said three bodies were recovered from the seminary and a total of 20 were killed in and around the village.
In Kirchinga, it was said that the gunmen were all dressed in military uniform — a tactic frequently employed by the militant fighters in previous, similar attacks.
In a statement, the military confirmed the attacks on multiple communities in Adamawa but said that only one soldier and three civilians were killed. Troops repelling the raids also killed six suspected Islamists, according to the statement.
The military further claimed that the militants, “in desperation for money and food…looted and burnt banks (and) shops”, and were trying to escape across the Cameroon border.
The top military commander in Adamawa last week ordered that the state’s border with Cameroon be sealed to block Boko Haram’s purported escape routes.
Residents in Michika described earlier how people fled to the nearby foothills when the attackers arrived in four-wheeled drive trucks and on motorcycles.
Michika resident Abdul Kassim said militants arrived at about 9:30 pm (2030 GMT) on Wednesday, “armed with RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and explosives which they hurled indiscriminately at homes and public buildings”.
The attack reportedly lasted for more than four hours. Various residents said four banks were razed, as well as hundreds of shops, a police station, government buildings and dozens of homes.
One witness, who requested anonymity, said the village looked like a “war zone” and that some 90 percent of all businesses had been destroyed.
The military and police however declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
Adamawa is one of three northeastern states placed under emergency rule in May 2013 following waves of Boko Haram attacks.
The top military commander in the state last week ordered the complete closure of the border with Cameroon in hope of blocking the movements of insurgents and weapons.
The ongoing military offensive has failed to crush the insurgency and nearly 300 people is believed to have been killed in a range of attacks already this year.
The United Nations meanwhile said on Thursday that nearly 300,000 people, more than half of them children, had fled their homes in the three states between May 2013 and January 1st 2014, because of the violence.
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