Suspected Boko Haram gunmen beheaded 23 people and set fire to homes in Buratai, northeast Nigeria, on the eve of Saturday’s general elections, a federal lawmaker representing the area said. “There was an attack on Buratai on Friday by gunmen suspected to be insurgents....They beheaded 23 people and set homes on fire,” said Mohammed Adamu, who represents the town some 200 km from Borno’s capital Maiduguri. “At least half the village has been burnt,” he added.
A nurse at the nearest major hospital, in Biu, said the 32 injured who were receiving care also reported that many were decapitated during the attack. Further details of the violence were not immediately available, but the attack is consistent with Boko Haram’s past strikes in the area in the south of the state, where defenceless civilians have been repeatedly targeted.