Boko Haram sect members launched a massive attack on Dalori, a suburb of Maiduguri, Borno state, on Saturday night.
Hundreds of residents of the community, which is 5km from the main city of Maiduguri were forced to flee their homes.
Many were said to have been killed and injured by the insurgents who took the quiet village by surprise around 7pm.
“The whole village has been set on fire,” said Tijjani Ali, a Maiduguri resident who lamented that soldiers manning the south-eastern gate of Maiduguri along Bama road were preventing fleeing residents from entering the city.
The spokesman of the Nigerian Army in the city, Colonel Mustapha Anka, confirmed the attack but declined to provide further details.
A local vigilante official, Gava Abbas, said, “It isn’t a good day for us today; the whole town is burnt down and many are feared killed, but my colleague who is also trapped outside Maiduguri said he can’t give details immediately.”
Soldiers prevented the displaced villagers from gaining entrance to Maiduguri because they fear Boko Haram might be using the attack to sneak in suicide bombers.
The sect has resorted to using attacks from the outskirts of Maiduguri city to create some detour to enable suicide bombers sneak into the city to attack populated residential areas.
