17 killed in suspected Boko Haram attack in Nigeria

At least 17 people were killed and dozens abducted by suspected Boko Haram militants in a series of attacks on Thursday in the central region of Nigeria's northeast Borno State, the head of a local administration said on Sunday.

"Seventeen persons were killed by the assailants after last Thursday's attack on Ndongo community," Alhaji Shettima Maina, head of Maffa Local Government, told journalists in Maiduguri. "We buried the remains of the victims in Maffa on Friday."

The attack marks the latest in a series of attacks by suspected Boko Haram militants in northern Nigeria despite the announcement of a ceasefire by the Nigeria government and ongoing negotiations with the group in neighbouring Chad.