Hundreds of corpses found in Nigeria earlier seized by Boko Haram: official

Hundreds of decomposed corpses were found in mass graves in a border community in Nigeria's northeastern Borno State, seized by Boko Haram last year, an official said late Monday.

The corpses -- apparently victims of Boko Haram attacks in Damasak, a Nigeria-Niger border community -- were found buried in 20 shallow graves in the past weekend, Mustapha Babagana, spokesman of Damasak local district, told Xinhua via telephone.

He said the discovery was made when a committee set up by the state government visited Damasak to assess the level of destruction in towns that were in the grip of Boko Haram. Damasak was recently liberated by Nigerian-Chadian government forces.

The government spokesman declined to give a specific number of corpses found but said they were hundreds of them. "Those bodies in shallow graves have badly decomposed while those found on the streets were desiccated from dry winds," he said.

Local residents said the number of dead bodies found were more than 400, proof positive that Boko Haram really carried out massive killing of the local people during their reign of terror in the area.

"It was a large-scale atrocity carried out here before government forces came to liberate the community," said Saleh Ahmed, a local resident, adding more bodies were littered at nearby bushes.

Abubakar Kyari, a senator-elect from the town, said children and women were among the victims of the massive killing carried out by Boko Haram in the area.

Last month, outside Damasak, more than 90 corpses were found in clearly marked shallow graves after troops had recaptured the community. A resident said more corpses might be found if the area is well-combed during subsequent search.

The Nigerian government has promised to wipe out the deadly Boko Haram, as it plans to wage war against the group, as well as corruption and unemployment -- two factors identified by experts as causes of the terrorism by Boko Haram.

The terror group seeks to enshrine the Islamic Sharia law in the constitution of Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. Endi