Boko Haram attack kills scores in Nigeria's Mafa village

Suspected Boko Haram militants roared into a northeastern Nigerian village on motorcycles, opened fire on a market and set shops and homes ablaze, killing at least 127 people, according to Amnesty International and police.

The attack occurred in Yobe, one of three states at the frontline of an insurgency that lasted 15 years.

Thousands of Nigerians have been killed and more than two million displaced.

Yobe police spokesperson Dungus Abdulkarim said the attack in Yobe's Mafa village was apparent retaliation for the killing of two suspected Boko Haram militants by local vigilantes.

After shooting at the market and torching buildings, the militants chased other residents into the bush and shot them, Abdulkarim added.

"The terrorists killed many people, but we are yet to ascertain the actual number of casualties," Abdulkarim said.

High casualties

A military official who accompanied the army's commanding officer for Yobe to Mafa said the route to the village had been rigged with explosives, which troops managed to defuse.

"We recovered 37 corpses and brought them to Babangida General Hospital," said the official, who declined to be identified because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Modu Mohammed, a resident, said several more residents were missing and estimated the death toll at over 100.

He said some corpses were still in the bush.