Alleged attack on Boko Haram: dozens of people killed at a funeral in Nigeria

Officials confirmed that at least 65 people had been killed during an alleged attack by Boko Haram during a burial in the state of Borno, northeastern Nigeria, this week-end.

Dozens of other bodies were discovered following the badault of mourners on Saturday, July 27, 2019, by gunmen in the village of Gajiram, near the regional capital, Maiduguri.

This was revealed by the chairman of Nganzai's local government council, Muhammed Bulama, who noted that 10 other people had also been injured during the attack.

Bulama added that more than 20 people were killed in the first attack during the funeral ceremony, while dozens of others were killed in an attempt to sue the jihadists.

According to eyewitnesses, the extremists arrived by motorbike and van in the village near the capital, Maiduguri, resulting in the death of 65 years.

Local government president Bulama killed 11 Boko Haram fighters two weeks ago.

The attack was perceived as self-defense by locals when the fighters approached their village. Residents also captured 10 automatic rifles during this period.

The insurgency began in 2009, reaching its tenth anniversary, when the jihadist group Boko Haram launched an armed rebellion against the Nigerian government.

In addition to the mbadacre of tens of thousands of people, the displacement of millions of people and the creation of one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world, the extremists abducted in April 2014 approximately 276 female students from a college in Chibok, the state of Borno.

The girls were taken to neighboring Cameroon and Chad where they were to be sold in marriage.

In 2015, Boko Haram was ranked among the world's deadliest terrorist groups by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Although the territory controlled by the group has declined in recent years and split into competing factions, extremists remain active in the region, defying any attempt by the army to end the insurgency.

The actions of the extremists seek to impose a strict Islamic state in the region and have challenged the claims of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari over the years, that the insurgency was repressed.