Nigerian army kills top Boko Haram militant, 3 others

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - The Nigerian army said Friday that a top Boko Haram commander had been killed alongside three other militants in the strife-ridden northeast.

Army spokesman Col. Ado Isa said in a statement that Adamu RuguRugu and the other militants were killed in an encounter with troops along the Gwoza-Yamteke road in Borno state.

Isa said RuguRugu's death sparked jubilation around Gwoza in the state, where he has been notorious for hit-and-run attacks that have killed several locals.

The army spokesman said troops also recovered two machine guns and two AK-47 rifles.

In a statement earlier Friday, Amnesty International claimed that up to 60 civilians were killed in a recent Boko Haram attack on a displaced persons’ camp in the northeastern town of Rann.

The army has yet to respond to the claim.

The news came hours after the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said some 7.1 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across the states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, which have been worst hit by the insurgency.