

Islamist terror group Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds of women and children at a school following a massive attack on the town of Baga earlier this month, according to an eyewitness.

Kaltuma Wari, who was released by the fanatics earlier this week, claimed in a phone call that 'there were over 500 women and hundreds of children' held by the militants.

While some were released after four days, hundreds of others - mainly young women - were still in the hands of the bloodthirsty murderers with no immediate news of their condition available.

The terror group shocked the world last year when its fighters kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from a boarding school in the town of Chibok, in Nigeria's north-east. Dozens escaped, but 219 remain missing.

Their disappearance prompted a social media campaign with #bringbackourgirls, which was supported by Michelle Obama, First Lady of the USA.

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Innocent victims: Kidnapped schoolgirls are seen at an unknown location in this image taken from a video released by Boko Haram. The girls went missing in April 2014.

Support: Michelle Obama backed the #bringbackourgirls campaign after the kidnap by Boko Haram

Wari, 40, said Boko Haram fighters took her to a girls' boarding school in Baga after she went into the streets to look for her husband and six of her nine children.

The women and children were kept in dormitories, classrooms and in the open, despite the cold weather caused by the seasonal winds, she said.

She added: 'They didn't touch any woman but they paid more attention to young women. They kept watch on them and they were always accompanied by gunmen wherever they went, even to the bathroom.'

During her time at the school, Wari was forced to cook for the militants.

Many of the women refused to eat out of worry for their loved ones, and she added: 'Some of us turned hysterical and I was one of them.

'They got fed up with us and (on Wednesday) around 2pm (1300 GMT) they singled us out and asked us to leave the town.

'We were around 100, all of us mothers. They would never allow any young woman to leave.'

'Boko Haram took around 300 women and kept us in a school in Baga', one unnamed woman was quoted as saying by Amnesty International in a statement.

'They released the older women, mothers and most of the children after four days but are still keeping the younger women.'

The news comes after aerial shots emerged yesterday of the towns taken a day before the attack and a day after, showing the massive scale of destruction after the massacre.

Before: Infra-red images show the densely populated village of Doron Baga on January 2 - before the attack

After: This image taken on January 7, following Boko Haram's assault, shows the village transformed by death and destruction

The president addressed the crowd and told them that all areas of Nigeria under the control of Boko Haram would be recaptured soon

Around 5,000 people are currently living in a camp after their towns were completely destroyed in the deadly attack

Today, there was no independent confirmation of the exact figure or indication of how many were still being held, but another survivor who escaped also said hundreds of women and girls were held.

Civilian vigilante Yanaye Grema, who escaped after hiding for three days in the town, said he met four women, including one with a baby on her back, as he fled through the bush following the attack last week.

'They told me they were among hundreds of women that were abducted by Boko Haram and detained,' he told news agency AFP.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's president has made a surprise visit to the heartland of the Boko Haram movement to meet survivors of the massacre which saw an estimated 2,500 people slaughtered by Islamist militants.

Goodluck Jonathan spent three hours in Maidugri, capital of Borno State, and addressed 5,000 people who have been sheltering in a camp since the attack by the terror group earlier this month.

The president's visit comes just a day after new images obtained by Amnesty International show the devastation of the assault - with more than 3,700 structures including houses and schools completely destroyed in the towns of Baga and Doron Baga

One witness of the attack described how the ruthless terror group were shooting indiscriminately, killing even small children and a woman who was in labour.

During his visit to the camp, Mr Jonathan promised that all areas of Nigeria under the control of Boko Haram would be recaptured soon.

He told the crowd of displaced people: 'I want to assure you that you will soon go back to your houses.'

The president's visit to Maiduguri - his first since March 2013 - was shrouded in secrecy and came after a previous trip to the region in May last year was cancelled at the last minute.

President Goodluck Jonathan, dressed in a grey shirt and dark hat, meets survivors of the Boko Haram massacre in Nigeria, which is thought to have killed 2,500 people

The president's visit to the Boko Haram heartland was the first since March 2013 and was shrouded in secrecy

Mr Jonathan takes a salute from soldiers of the Nigerian Army fighting Boko Haram. The Nigerian leader has come under fire for his failure to crush the terror group.

Nigeria's leader has come under fierce criticism for his failure to crush Boko Haram's bid to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.

The shocking satellite images that revealed the extent of the damage were released by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, who said the images suggested 'devastation of catastrophic proportions'.

They added that 11 per cent of Baga and 57 percent of Doron Baga was flattened, most likely by fire.

Human Rights Watch said the exact death toll was unknown and quoted one local resident as saying: 'No one stayed back to count the bodies.

People were forced to queue up to take refuge inside a 'Teachers Village' in Maiduguri after their homes were destroyed in the Boko Haram attack

Children play on the ground outside the refuge. More than 3,700 structures including houses and schools were completely destroyed in the towns of Baga and Doron Baga

'We were all running to get out of town ahead of Boko Haram fighters who have since taken over the area.'

Meanwhile, Amnesty cited reports of women being rounded up and detained at a school.

They added: 'The deliberate killing of civilians and destruction of their property by Boko Haram are war crimes and crimes against humanity and must be duly investigated.'

It comes as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accused the Islamist insurgents of a 'crime against humanity'.

He described Boko Haram as a 'serious threat to all of our values' during a visit to Bulgaria with British foreign secretary Philip Hammond.

Amnesty International believe that 11 per cent of Baga and 57 percent of Doron Baga was flattened, most likely by fire

A map showing Nigeria and the location of Baga which was devastated by a massacre by brutal Boko Haram fanatics

Cameroon also announced that neighbouring Chad will send troops to aid their country's fight against Boko Haram, though no date for the deployment or size of the contingent was given.

Meanwhile Gordon Brown, UN special envoy for education, urged the world to condemn the use of young girls as suicide bombers by Boko Haram, calling it 'barbaric.'

At least 19 people were killed on Saturday when a young girl, thought to be aged about 10, blew herself up at a crowded market in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the Red Cross and local vigilantes said.