Some gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect attacked five villages in Geire Local Government in Adamawa State killing dozens of people in the early hours of yesterday.

A resident who escaped being attacked, Naslam Clarkson, told The Guardian yesterday in Yola that the attackers were being confronted by security operatives who arrived the villages to repel the insurgents at about 12 noon.

According to Clarkson, the attack started as early as 6 am when the people were preparing for church services. “I managed to escape narrowly through the bush. I saw more than six dead bodies when I was running in the bush, the armed men fired shots at me several times, but God helped me to escape. They came in vehicles, including motor cycles,” he said.

Geire Local Government is where the Federal University of Technology is located.

Neither the police nor the military were yet to give the details of the situation and the number of casualties as at press time, but unconfirmed report put the figure at 36, mostly children and women. Some of the injured victims were said to be receiving treatment in some hospitals in Yola.

A community leader from Geire and former Adamawa State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretary Philneas Elisha, who confirmed the incident to The Guardian said his village was among those attacked. He said the style with which the gunmen carried out the attack was similar to that of Boko Haram. He listed the villages attacked as Densare, Wonamo, Dwajam, Tabongo and Noyine.