ABUJA (Reuters) - The Islamist militant group Boko Haram killed at least 60 people in the northeast Nigerian town of Rann on Monday, a day after it was abandoned by the military, Amnesty International and security sources said on Friday.

The attack on Rann, home to a camp housing tens of thousands of people displaced by the Islamist insurgency, was one of the group’s bloodiest.

It came two weeks after Boko Haram had overrun the same town, driving out Nigerian soldiers and signaling its re-emergence as a force capable of capturing army bases.

The bloodshed is a challenge for President Muhammadu Buhari in particular as he seeks a second successive four-year term in an election on Feb. 16, having been elected in 2015 partly on a promise to restore security.

A Nigerian army spokesman denied that troops had left the town and that Boko Haram had killed the people.

The two attacks have driven some 40,000 people to flee, 30,000 of them into nearby Cameroon, according to aid agencies.

“This attack on civilians who have already been displaced by the bloody conflict may amount to possible war crimes,” Osai Ojigho, Amnesty’s Nigeria director, said in a statement.

“Witnesses told us that Nigerian soldiers abandoned their posts the day before the attack, demonstrating the authorities’ utter failure to protect civilians.”

Two security sources told Reuters that Nigerian troops had returned to Rann along with Cameroonian troops from a multinational task force after the first attack on Jan. 14.

After the Cameroonians went back across the border, the Nigerian soldiers left because they did not have enough troops, weapons or equipment, the sources said.

The next day, Boko Haram came. The militants set the town ablaze and executed its elders and traditional leaders, leaving one alive as a witness, one of the security sources said.

A video of the attack reviewed by Reuters showed people gathering belongings and fleeing, screaming, as the town burned.

Nigerian army soldiers came back to Rann and helped bury some of the dead after Boko Haram had left, Amnesty International and security sources said.

A surge in attacks in the northeast by Boko Haram and its now more powerful offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province is throwing preparations for the presidential election into disarray.

Despite the violence, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said on Tuesday “the current rate of return of these IDPs (internally displaced people) and refugees is encouraging, and this is due to improving security in many areas that were once completely out of bounds”.</s>More than 30,000 people fled the Nigerian town of Rann over the weekend amid fears of renewed attacks by the Boko Haram armed group, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday the town's population "seems to be panicking and they are on the run as a pre-emptive measure to save their lives."

Rann, near the border with Cameroon in northern Borno state, already saw an exodus of about 9,000 people earlier this month to Cameroon after a Boko Haram attack on January 14 killed 14 people.

Baloch said Cameroon sent back the 9,000 refugees and initially deployed troops that are part of a multinational taskforce to protect the town.

"It was a bit peaceful, but as far as we understand now, that multinational taskforce has left," he said.

Refugees told aid workers that Boko Haram fighters had "promised to return to Rann", he said, explaining the panic.

Baloch said UNHCR was reiterating its call to Cameroonian authorities "to keep the borders open, as we see thousands fleeing every day".

Baloch said a recent upsurge in violence in northeastern Nigeria had driven more than 80,000 civilians to seek refuge in already crowded camps or in towns in Borno state, "where they are surviving in tough living conditions".

Rann, he said, had already been housing about 80,000 displaced people.

"The escalation in the conflict has thwarted people's intention of returning to their homes," he said, adding some refugees who attempted to return home from Cameroon had been displaced multiple times inside Nigeria or forced to become refugees again in Cameroon.

"The hostilities have strained humanitarian operations there and forced aid workers to pull out from some locations," he said.

Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, told reporters that 260 aid workers were withdrawn from three locations in Borno state since early December.</s>Over 30,000 people fled the Nigerian town of Rann and across the border to Cameroon over the weekend amid fears of renewed attacks by Boko Haram militants, the UN said Tuesday.

"All the population seems to be panicking and they are on the run as a preemptive measure to save their lives," UN refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva</s>More than 30,000 people have fled the northeast Nigerian town of Rann and across the border to Cameroon in recent days because of fears of renewed Boko Haram attacks, the UN, civilian militia and residents said on Tuesday.

The latest mass movement comes as the world body voiced renewed concern about the effect of the bloody conflict on civilians and launched a longer-term plan to help those made homeless by the fighting.

Rann, in northern Borno state, near the border with Cameroon, has been repeatedly attacked by Boko Haram, most recently on January 14, when the jihadists targeted a military base.

UN refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva that recent fighting in Borno had forced more than 80,000 people to flee their homes.

"Nigerian refugees continue to arrive in very remote and impoverished communities in neighbouring countries," he added.

"All the population seems to be panicking and they are on the run as a preemptive measure to save their lives."

Humanitarian organisations working in Rann said the attack earlier this month forced some 9,000 people to flee into Cameroon.

But they were sent back, as Cameroon deployed troops to reinforce the town as part of the regional military response against the Islamist militants.

"It was a bit peaceful but as far as we understand now, that multinational taskforce has left," said Baloch, adding that refugees had told aid workers Boko Haram "promised to return".

Walid Abdallahi, who was among those who fled, said there was now "not a single resident in Rann" and that Boko Haram had been "in control" of the town since Monday.

"We all left the town as soon as the Cameroonian soldiers withdrew because we knew we were vulnerable to Boko Haram who would no doubt launch an attack," he told AFP.

Abadallahi said the remaining Nigerian soldiers also withdrew "because their number was too small to face Boko Haram when they attacked".

His account was supported by an aid worker who left Rann after the January 14 attack but remains in contact with those in the area, and a civilian militia source.

"There were over 35,000 IDPs (internally displaced people) in Rann and all of them have fled to Cameroon," the aid worker added.

The civilian militia source said Cameroonian soldiers withdrew on Sunday and Nigerian troops were now based in Ngala, nearly 40 kilometres (25 miles) away.

"The terrorists set fire to most houses in the town and have taken strategic positions in anticipation of military operations to push them out," he added.

News from Rann came as the UN in Abuja launched an appeal for $848 million (741 million euros) to fund projects in Borno and two other northeast states over the next three years.

An additional $135 million was required to help the 228,500 Nigerian refugees who have fled to neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger, it said.

Nigeria's government has said Boko Haram has been virtually defeated, despite persistent attacks against the military and civilians.

The UN said aid agencies' access to people in hard-to-reach areas was largely unchanged in the last year, indicating security conditions had not improved.

Some 260 aid workers have been forced to pull out of three local government areas in Borno in recent months because of fighting.

Many IDPs have had to move several times as a result of attacks and are unable to return home. An average of 4,500 people were displaced every week in 2018,it added.

"Civilians still bear the brunt of a conflict that has led to widespread forced displacement and violations of international humanitarian and human rights law," said the UN humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon.

"New and protracted displacement, triggered by the conflict, continues to affect access to basic services and disrupts the livelihoods of millions of people."</s>Four farmers have been killed in a suspected Boko Haram attack in northeastern Nigeria, civilian militia and residents said Monday.

The attack, near Molai village some five kilometres (three miles) from the Borno state capital Maiduguri, was blamed on fighters loyal to factional leader Abubakar Shekau.

 

 “The four victims had their throats slit,” Ibrahim Liman of the Civilian Joint Task Force assisting the military with security told AFP.

One of the militants used the mobile phone of one of the farmers to say they had killed four and abducted two others, local resident Usman Gana said.

“They informed us we should come and collect their bodies,” he said.



 The attacks underline the persistent threat to civilians in northeastern Nigeria, where more than 27,000 people have been killed since Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency began in 2009.

The military has succeeded in pushing the group out of urban centres but rural areas remain hard to secure. Farmers and those collecting wood have been repeatedly targeted.

Molai has been hit several times during attempted raids on Maiduguri.

Meanwhile, more people have fled the town of Rann, near the border with Cameroon in northern Borno state, where 14 people were reportedly killed in a Boko Haram attack on January 14.

Rann at the time was home to some 35,000 internally displaced people.

The UN said about 9,000 and locals fled to Cameroon after the attack, heaping pressure on already overstretched authorities.

One local man, Walid Abdallahi, said the withdrawal on Sunday of Cameroonian soldiers sent to reinforce Rann had prompted “huge numbers” to leave the town.



 “We are afraid to stay because with the withdrawal of the Cameroonians we are more vulnerable to Boko Haram attacks as the number of Nigerian soldiers around is grossly inadequate to protect us from attack,” he said.

Across northeast Nigeria, some 1.8 million people remain homeless and rely on aid agencies for food, shelter, healthcare and clean water.</s>About 30,000 persons have fled Rann in Borno State to the border in Cameroon over the weekend following Boko Haram‘s threat to attack the town.

The United Nations (UN) revealed this in a statement on Tuesday where it noted that the development was mainly as a preventive measure.

“All the population seems to be panicking and they are on the run as a preemptive measure to save their lives,” UN refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva.

In a related development, the insurgents are now using skilled fighters and technology from ISIS as new strategies to further their agenda, according to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.

Abubakar said this on Monday when he rolled out the achievements of the service in the last year.

According to him, “Our gallant fighter and helicopter gunship pilots are adapting creditably to these emerging nuances and making good progress, despite recent setbacks.”</s>Al Jazeera More than 30,000 people fled the Nigerian town of Rann over the weekend amid fears...</s>Boko Haram militants have shot dead at least four people in a town in Niger near the border with Nigeria, a local official said Tuesday.

Three other people were wounded in the attack on Monday night in Bosso, a town near the Lake Chad basin which has suffered repeated assaults by the jihadist group.

"The provisional figures for this attack by Boko Haram is four civilians shot dead and three others wounded," the official told AFP.

Several homes and three vehicles loaded with red peppers, a major crop of the local economy, were also set alight, he added.</s>Nigerians fled in their hundreds from Rann, in Kala-Balge Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno State as soldiers were reportedly withdrew from the Nigerian border with Cameroon.

The residents of the town were said to have fled into Cameroon, when they saw that the troop mostly with the Multi-National Joint Task Force were withdrawn from the town.

A source who spoke anonymously to THISDAY, said the military were withdrawn on Saturday, causing panic in the town. He said the people, fearing that they may be opened to Boko Haram attack, immediately moved to neighbouring Cameroon.

Rann has continually been attacked by insurgents in recent times and it was in the town that some staff of Red Cross were kidnapped by Boko Haram last year. Two of the kidnapped staff were later killed by the insurgents after their demands were not meant.

Meanwhile, Borno Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima was said to have meant with President Muhammadu Buhari to brief him on security situation in Rann.

The Borno State Governor was said to have appealed to the president on the need to reinforce the town against any attack by the insurgents.</s>An estimated 30,000 Nigerians fled a town in their West African nation over the weekend in search of safety in neighboring Cameroon, according to the United Nations refugee agency. They fled the northeast border town of Rann amid mounting violence from a Boko Haram insurgency.

"With more 250,000 children, women and men already uprooted from northeast Nigeria, surging militant attacks are targeting civilians and forcing thousands more to run for their lives each day," the refugee agency, UNHCR, said Tuesday.

The Associated Press reports that refugees started escaping to Cameroon several weeks ago when Boko Haram captured Rann, which was hosting people who were internally displaced by the Boko Haram conflict, according to Amnesty International. the town is located in Nigeria's Borno state, where more than 80,000 people have sought refuge in towns and camps as violence in the region has escalated, UNHCR said.

Thousands have also recently fled to Chad.

UNHCR said $848 million is needed to provide basics like water and shelter to the most vulnerable people inside Nigeria. It is also seeking $135 million to help displaced people across the Lake Chad Basin region, where nearly 2.4 million people in total have been displaced due to Boko Haram's insurgency, which started in 2009 in Nigeria.

"Although the Nigerian military has regained control in parts of the country's north-east, civilians in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger continue to be affected by grave violations of human rights, widespread sexual and gender-based violence, forced recruitment and suicide bombings," UNHCR said.

Amnesty International's Nigeria director said earlier this month that the situation in Rann "shows how vulnerable internally displaced persons are in Nigeria and the need to do more to protect them."
Boko Haram kills 60 people in an arson attack in the town Rann.