Militants kill over 100 in northern Nigeria

Boko Haram blamed for latest attack

At least 125 people have been killed by Islamic militants in an attack on Gamboru Ngala in Nigeria’s remote north-east region on the border with Cameroon.

Locals reported that the gunmen set fire to shops and residences during the assault on the market town which took place on the night of 5 May but didn't reach international media until days later.

The attack is being attributed to the Boko Haram rebels who recently claimed responsibility for last month's abduction of up to 276 teenage girls from a boarding school in Chibok in the north-eastern Nigerian state of Borno.

The news escalates the growing crisis over the extremists’ violent campaign and comes in the middle of the country's inaugural hosting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) for Africa, being held from 7-9 May in the capital Abuja, 800 km south of Gamboru Ngala.

The administration of Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan is facing mounting international pressure for its inability to deal effectively with the militia movement whose goal is to carve out an Islamist state in the north of the country.

Since it began in 2009 Boko Haram has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Nigerians, killing more than 1,500 people so far this year.