At least 81 people have been killed and many others are missing after a fresh jihadist attack in northeastern Nigeria, local authorities said.

Police in Yobe State reported that about 150 members of the Boko Haram group, armed with guns and hand grenades, attacked Mafa village around 4:00 pm on Sunday afternoon.

“We believe it was in retaliation for the killing of two Boko Haram terrorists by the village’s self-defense groups,” said police spokesman Abdulkarim Dungus.

The jihadists have repeatedly accused Mafa residents of helping the army in its operations against the group.

“At least 81 people have been killed,” said Bulama Jalaluddin, the spokesman for the president of Tarmuah local government, where Mafa is located. The attackers “set fire to houses, most of which had thatched roofs, and those hiding inside were burned alive,” said a local government official, who asked not to be named. This source previously spoke to a Mafa resident who escaped the attack.

According to Jalaluddin, 34 victims were buried in Babangida and another 30 still remain in Mafa. “Fifteen victims had already been buried by their families when the soldiers arrived in Mafa. An unspecified number of victims from neighboring villages were taken and buried by their relatives before the army arrived,” he added.

Police have not released an estimate. But he takes it for granted that Boko Haram killed “many people and set fire to shops and houses”.

Villages in Yobe State, home to mainly herdsmen and farmers, are often looted by jihadists from Boko Haram and the rival group, Islamic State in West Africa. Attacks have increased in recent years as jihadists accuse residents of tipping off the army and local militias about their movements. In late October 2023, the police, with the help of villagers, killed several jihadists near the community of Kayaya, after its residents received threats. In retaliation, the jihadists killed 37 people in two days in two villages of the State. 20 of these victims were returning from the funeral of the first.