Boko Haram kills nine in northeast Nigeria
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Boko Haram militants have killed nine people in two separate attacks in northeast Nigeria, militia members and local residents said on Tuesday, underlining the persistent threat to civilians.
The first attack happened at about 11:00 am (1000 GMT) on Monday when six people collecting firewood were shot dead in Jinene village, near the border town of Ngala, in Borno state.
The second occurred in Pallam village, in the Madagali area of neighbouring Adamawa state, at about 11:30 pm, and saw the militants seize food, before burning several shops and homes.
Nigeria's military and government maintain the insurgents are a spent force, after nearly nine years of violence that has killed at least 20,000 people and forced more than 2.6 million others from their homes.
But hit-and-run raids and suicide bomb attacks, including in and around camps for the displaced, are a constant menace, exacerbating already precarious living conditions in the impoverished remote region.
Loggers, many of whom live in the camps and are forced to collect wood in the unprotected bush to to sell, have been particularly vulnerable. Scores have been killed in recent months.
