ABOUT 15 persons were killed Wednesday evening when Boko Haram terrorists attacked several villages in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State, including an Imam who was burned to death alongside four members of his family.

Residents who survived the attack told Channels Television that they had to flee from their village – Kofa – when the insurgents attacked, but the Imam and his family stayed behind. Everything in the Imam’s compound, including livestock, were set alight.

Asides Kofa, the insurgents also attacked Abba Malumti, Gozari, and Dalori II Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp. Witnesses also said many others who fled the villages might have drowned in a river.

Channels Television reports that the insurgents came in large numbers and outnumbered the security operatives on the ground.

However, the Nigerian Army issued a statement on Saturday saying that its troops successfully foiled a terrorist attack in Kofa and Dalori IDP camp on Wednesday.

The statement said the terrorists gained access through a bush part behind the village in four vehicles and some motorcycles.

“They ransacked the market in front of the IDP camp (and) on sighting own troops that were mobilized to the area, they set some houses and the market ablaze and fled along Maiduguri-Bama Road,” the statement read.

The army said one civilian was found dead, and as at the time of issuing the statement, troops were “assisting the villagers who ran into the bush back to their homes while the Borno State Fire Service have contained the inferno”.

The army authorities said full details of the attack will be released later, but no update has been given as at the time of this report, more than 10 hours after the initial statement was issued.