At least 30 dead in triple Islamist attack in Borno

At least 30 people were killed in three attacks by Islamists in northeastern Nigeria, local officials and inhabitants said Wednesday, days ahead of a meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and Barack Obama.
The three assaults were carried out simultaneously Tuesday in Borno state, the epicentre of Boko Haram’s insurgency, and are part of a surge in Islamist violence since Buhari came to power on May 29.
Boko Haram has killed more than 660 people in a month and a half.
In the deadliest attack on Tuesday afternoon, more than 20 people were killed outside the town of Ngamdu, local legislator Mohammed Sando told AFP.
“Boko Haram gunmen… yesterday set up a barricade on the Damaturu-Maiduguri highway just outside Ngamdu, and attacked motorists. They killed over 20,” Sando said.