News / Nigeria

Boko Haram decapitates Nigerian loggers: local militia

Wednesday, 02 August 2017 2:44 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 02 August 2017 2:45 PM ]

Residents arrange under a white sheet victims of a bombing in Koffa, Nigeria, on June 19, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Boko Haram extremists have killed three loggers near a remote village in Nigeria's restive northeast Borno state, local militia assisting the military to fight the extremist group told AFP Wednesday.

"The decapitated bodies of the three loggers were found by the roadside," on Monday, said local vigilante Ibrahim Liman in Maiduguri, the state capital.

"Decapitation is a Boko Haram hallmark," he added.

Boko Haram terrorists have increasingly targeted loggers in their armed campaign, accusing them of spying and passing information to the military and the local militia fighting them, Liman said.

The latest victims were seized with their truckload of firewood near Aisa-Wulomari village, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Maiduguri, said Musa Ari, another member of the local militia who gave a similar toll.

"The truck and their firewood were also abandoned near the bodies of the loggers," said Liman.

Boko Haram's eight-year campaign of extremist violence has killed over 20,000 people and displaced some 2.6 million from their homes, triggering a dire humanitarian crisis in the region.

This file photo taken on June 08, 2017 shows armed members of a local defense group inspecting the damages of a blast in Maiduguri, Nigeria. (Photo by AFP)

Most of the displaced rely on food handouts from aid agencies while others have turned to felling trees from the scanty vegetation in this arid region for firewood which they sell to buy food.

In April eight loggers were killed and their bodies burnt by Boko Haram extremists at Kayamla village, 10 kilometers from Maiduguri while collecting firewood in a bush.

(Source: AFP)

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