Nigeria’s violent Islamist sect Boko Haram has abducted around 100 people from a remote fishing village, an official and eyewitnesses said Friday. The attack on Doron Baga was first reported by Reuters eyewitnesses and confirmed to NBC News by Khalifa Ahmed Zanna, senator of Nigeria's northeastern Borno state where most of Boko Haram's attacks take place. "They were shouting 'Allah Akbar' (God is greatest), shooting sporadically," Halima Adamu, told Reuters after the incident last Sunday. "There was confusion everywhere. They started parking our men and boys into their vehicles, threatening to shoot whoever disobey them. Everybody was scared."
Reuters eyewitnesses said 97 people — all men and boys — were unaccounted for, but Zanna said 84 males and 28 females were taken. Doron Baga is 170 miles northeast of Chibok, where Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 girls in April, sparking an international outcry based around the Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. Zanna is in the same political party as Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan but he is very critical Jonathan’s response. “I cannot stand by and sacrifice my own people," he said.
In-Depth
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— Alexander Smith
Reuters contributed to this report.
