Quoting security sources, the daily said that amid the assaults, which took place in the town of Dikwa, numerous villagers fled their homes and took refuge elsewhere as internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The newspaper reported that Boko Haram elements, considered terrorists, also entered a remote village in the town of Gajibo, where they shot at civilians and burned down numerous newly built houses.

One of the residents of Dikwa, Sheriff Lawann, told reporters that the extremists placed improvised explosives in the construction sites being built by the government to disrupt the process of reconstruction and resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Many remember the abductions of more than 270 students from a school, by Boko Haram in April 2014 in the town of Chibok, Borno State, an action that was condemned by the international community.

The violent activities by the militant group and the Islamic State of West Africa have been expanding in recent times, although Nigeria’s security forces are carrying out an intense offensive to annihilate these radical groups.

jg/abo/mem/obf