'Boko Haram' gunmen kill 19 motorists in Nigeria

Militants wearing army uniforms have killed 19 people at checkpoints on a road in Nigeria's Borno state.

The armed men reportedly stopped motorists on the road and ordered them out of their cars before shooting them or hacking them to death.

Witnesses told the BBC the men were from Boko Haram, though the Islamist militant group has not yet commented.

North-eastern Nigeria is under a state of emergency as Boko Haram attempts to create an Islamist state there.


The group targets both the military and civilians, including in schools, and frequently clashes with the Nigerian armed forces.

The latest attack happened early on Sunday m
orning near the town of Logumani, not far from the Cameroon border.
'On the prowl' Survivors said the gunmen were dressed as soldiers and were riding motorcycles before they ambushed their victims.

"We were asked to get out of our vehicles and lie face down by nine men dressed as soldiers who blocked the road," one man, who gave his name as Buba, told the AFP news agency.

"They shot dead five people and went about slaughtering 14 others before someone called them on the phone that soldiers were heading their way," he said.