Boko Haram Suspected of Kidnapping 200 Villagers in Nigeria
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KNS/AFP/Getty Images(GUMSURI, Nigeria) — The Islamic militant group Boko Haram reportedly kidnapped nearly 200 Nigerian villagers and killed dozens more this week.
A witness and a local vigilante group said Thursday that the village of Gumsuri had been raided two days earlier by insurgents driving pickup trucks and firing heavy machine guns, according to the Wall Street Journal.
According to the report, one vigilante said 191 women, girls, and young boys had been kidnapped, and 31 villagers killed.
The Nigerian government said Thursday it was trying to confirm the kidnapping. “In this regard, the government has not given up and will not give up in the search and rescue efforts” for all Boko Haram captives, said government spokesman Mike Omeri.
The village of Gumsuri is on the same road that leads to Chibok, the village where Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls back in in April.
Meanwhile, a Nigerian military court on Wednesday sentenced 54 soldiers to death for mutiny after they reportedly refused to participate in an operation against Boko Haram.
Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer representing the men, said five other soldiers tried in the court-martial had been acquitted.
The convicted soldiers are to be executed by firing squad.
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