By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS, Nigeria
Dozens of civilians, some fear as high as 100, were killed in a massacre carried out by gunmen allegedly affiliated with Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria on Wednesday night, military and local sources said Thursday.
According to preliminary reports, gunmen went on a rampage in Borno state’s Kukawa town and specifically targeted mosques in the area.
"Close to 100 people were murdered, especially those killed inside different mosques in the town. Women and children too were not spared," a military source in the Nigerian army in Maiduguri, a city in Borno state, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday evening.
He said the attack occurred around sunset time as Muslims offered the Maghrib prayer just shortly after opening the day's Ramadan fast Wednesday night.
Abba Kyari, one of the hundreds of locals who fled to Maiduguri, capital city of Borno state, said that the attack took place when Muslims were praying.
"Very few of us got away with slight injuries as we made away. But we cannot account for our family members now. The mosques are littered with corpses and our houses have been burnt," Kyari, who spoke in the local Hausa, said.
Kyari said that he knew only five out of the over 50 people who attended the Maghrib prayer at the mosque who survived and were now in Maiduguri.
The attack took place almost at the same time as the one on Kabal Bahram and Mangal villages in Monguno area of the restive state. At least 10 people reportedly died in those attacks.
Nigeria's defense spokesman Chris Olukolade told AA that he could not immediately confirm the Kukawa massacre.
