Vigilante groups - here manning a checkpoint in
Maiduguri - have formed to fight Boko Haram ( picture below )
Suspected Boko Haram fighters have killed at least 20
members of vigilante groups trying to fight back
against the group in north-east Borno state.
The deaths occurred in two separate attacks on
Sunday and Monday, said residents and a military
official.
Boko Haram has waged a deadly insurgency in Nigeria
since 2009.
In May, President Goodluck Jonathan declared an
emergency in three north-eastern states, saying the
group threatened Nigeria's existence.
An offensive was launched against the group - which
says it is fighting for the creation of an Islamic state
in Nigeria - and the military encouraged the formation
of vigilante groups to help.
But now it appears Boko Haram is taking revenge
against such groups, say observers - adding weight to
fears that the vigilante groups may trigger an
escalation of the violence.
On Sunday, men disguised in military uniforms stormed
a meeting of one vigilante group in Bama, opening fire
and killing 14, residents said.
An official at a local hospital told AFP news agency
another four people died on Monday from the attack.
The second attack took place on Monday night in the
Borno village of Damasak, some 200km (125 miles)
away.
Attackers crept up on sleeping members of a group,
which calls itself the Civilian Joint Task Force, as they
slept in a guesthouse and shot them dead, said a
relative and a military official speaking anonymously.
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