Gunmen abducts 40 people in Borno

Gunmen abducted 40 boys and young men from Malari village in Borno in a raid that residents and a security source blamed on Boko Haram.

An eye witness, Mohammed Zarami, said the gunmen arrived at the village about 8 p.m. on Wednesday, heavily armed but did not fire shots or kill anyone.

“People ran out of their houses in fear but they warned no one should disobey them,” Zarami told Reuters in Maiduguri, where he had fled to on foot.

“They took away over 40 (male) youths mostly between the ages of 15 and 23. As I am talking to you now, there is no youth in our village,” he said.

Boko Haram fighters have abducted hundreds of people in the past year. Boys are recruited as fighters and the girls as sex slaves, security officials say.