Nigeria villagers kill Boko Haram fighters

Villagers in an area of Nigeria where Boko Haram operates have killed and detained scores of fighters who were suspected of planning a fresh attack, the residents and a security official said.

Locals in Nigeria’s northern states have been forming vigilante groups in various areas to resist the armed group which has held more than 270 schoolgirls captive since last month.

In Kalabalge, a village about 250km from the Borno state capital of Maiduguri, residents said they were taking matters into their own hands because the Nigerian military was perceived as not doing enough to stem Boko Haram attacks.

On Tuesday morning, after learning about an impending attack by fighters, locals ambushed two trucks with gunmen, according to local officials.

At least 41 fighters were killed in the attack, officials said and the AP news agency was told that at least 10 armed men were detained. It was not immediately clear where the detainees were being held.

Kalabalge trader Ajid Musa said that after residents organised the vigilante group, “it is impossible” for fighters to successfully stage attacks there.

“That is why most attacks by the Boko Haram on our village continued [to] fail because they cannot come in here and start shooting and killing people,” he said.

Borno is where more than 300 girls were abducted last month and one of three Nigerian states where President Goodluck Jonathan has imposed a state of emergency, giving the military special powers to fight self-declared jihadist groups, whose stronghold is in northeast Nigeria.