Boko Haram disguised as traders to raid a trading town
Hundreds of residents and soldiers are fleeing a northern Nigerian town attacked by militant Islamists disguised as traders, officials say.
Shootings and explosions had rocked the trading town of Damasak, near Niger's border, a senator told the Cchat212 FM.
Boko Haram fighters seized a nearby fishing village on Thursday, reportedly killing 48 people.
On Sunday, Nigeria's top Islamic leader accused soldiers of "terrorising", rather than defending, civilians.
"Soldiers take to their heels and abandon their bases, arms, ammunition and other military hardware on the approach of the insurgents," said the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar.
"Nigerian security forces only surface after the deadly attacks and terrorise an already terrorised people by installing road blocks and searching homes," he added in a statement issued on his behalf by Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI), the main body representing Muslim clerics in Nigeria.
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