A market outside the key northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital was reportedly attacked by members of Boko Haram, local people who witnessed the incident told AFP.

According to the witnesses, at about 1:00 pm on Friday, September 12, the gunmen numbering about 50 stormed the weekly market in Ngom village, some 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) from Maiduguri on motorbikes and opened fire.

One of the locals, Tanimu Goni, who fled to Maiduguri in the wake of the attack, said many people were killed.

Another trader, Nafiu Umarari, added: “They fired indiscriminately and killed a lot of people.”

They explained that the insurgents seized vehicles and looted sacks of grain before fleeing but they were pursued by a team of soldiers and civilian vigilantes from Maiduguri, who succeeded in killing dozens of them though many escaped into the bush.

However, they both couldn’t give a precise casualty figure and there was no official word from the military.

This attack on traders came on the heels of a fierce gun battle between the insurgents and Nigerian army in the town of Konduga, 35 kilometres from Maiduguri, during which the troops recorded victory against the sect.

The troops were said to have repelled the sect’s attack on Konduga in borno, seizing some of their equipments and killing many.