LAGOS
By Rafiu Ajakaye
At least 38 people were killed Tuesday in militant attacks on two villages in Nigeria's northwestern Kaduna State, a local official has said.
"Thirty-eight people were murdered today when gunmen invaded Ankpon village in Nandu district and Kabamu village in Fadan Karshi in the Numan district of Sanga local government area," local government chairman Emmanuel Adamu told reporters.
"While 21 people were killed in Fadan Karshi, 17 died in Nandu," he said.
Adamu added that victims included women and children and that homes had been torched in the early morning attack.
He stopped short, however, of saying what had precipitated the carnage in southern Kaduna.
Villagers, for their part, told Anadolu Agency that the attack was linked to longstanding tribal rivalries.
"Efforts are ongoing to forestall a repeat of this wanton destruction of lives and properties, while security agencies are trying to identify the culprits," Adamu said.
Police have yet to comment on the latest killings in the northwestern state, which is known for being a hotbed of ethno-religious tensions fuelled largely by economic and political differences.
ABUJA
Militants have attacked a village in Nigeria's restive northeast Borno State, killing scores of people and abducting dozens of girls, state-owned NTA television network reported.
According to the network, militants stormed Kummabza village in Damboa local council area of Borno, during which around 60 girls aged between three and 12 years have been abducted.
"Reports from the area indicates that the insurgents also killed about thirty people and destroyed properties worth millions of naira during an attack on the community," the NTA reported, quoting local sources as saying.
The medium said the incident has sparked exodus from the community and its environs.
Spokesman for local Borno government Isa Gusau told AA he doesn't have any information about the reported incident yet. Repeated calls to defense spokesman Chris Olukolade were not responded to.
On April 14, Boko Haram militants abducted dozens of schoolgirls in Chibok village of Borno. Only about 54 of the girls have returned, while authorities say about 219 remain missing.
The group's leader Abubakar Shekau has owned up to the mass abduction in recent videos, offering to swap the girls for militants in Nigerian prisons.
Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in Nigeria's local Hausa language, first emerged in the early 2000s preaching against government misrule and corruption.
The group later became violent, however, after the death of its leader in 2009 while in police custody.
In the five years since, the shadowy sect has been blamed for numerous attacks – on places of worship and government institutions – and thousands of deaths.
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