'Dozens killed' in Boko Haram attack on Nigeria villages
'Dozens killed' in Boko Haram attack on Nigeria villages
Boko Haram militants have killed dozens of people in fresh attacks on villages in Borno state in northern Nigeria, the BBC has learnt.
A local member of parliament confirmed the attacks and said that at least five other villages had been targeted.
The Nigerian military has also denied reports that some of its men had been charged with helping the militants.
Boko Haram has waged an increasingly bloody insurgency since 2009 to create an Islamic state in Nigeria.
Residents in the village of Attagara, close to the Cameroonian border, said that armed men ordered them into a church compound.
They said they were lead to believe the men were from the Nigerian military. Eyewitnesses said the men then opened fire on the crowd.
Nigerian MP Peter Biye told the BBC that there had been several similar attacks in the area and that many houses had been destroyed.
Boko Haram, the group accused of being behind the attacks, has been holding more than 200 schoolgirls captive since last month.
COURT-MARTIAL DENIAL
On Tuesday reports surfaced in the Nigerian media that 10 generals and five other senior military officers had been accused of helping Boko Haram.
Reports said the officers had faced a court-martial and had been found guilty of supplying arms and information to the militant group.
However, Nigerian army spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade categorically denied the reports, calling them "falsehoods" designed to do "maximum damage to the image of the Nigerian Army".
"There is no general of the Nigerian Army under any form of trial," he said in a statement.
However, the Interior Minister Abba Moro said it was "good news" that the military had identified the accused, and said it sent a strong message to other serving officers.