During the same night, Boko Haram abducted eight girls aged between 12 and 15 from northeast Nigeria,[4][5] a number later raised to eleven.[6]
Background
Gamboru Ngala accommodated the security garrison, which had left the town before the attack to pursue the perpetrators of the Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping.[7] Borno State is considered pivotal for Boko Haram.[7] According to the Nigerian senatorAhmed Zanna and several residents, the security forces left Gamboru Ngala after Boko Haram militants had spread rumours that the kidnapped schoolgirls had been spotted elsewhere.[8]
Massacre
Armed with AK-47s and RPGs, the militants attacked the town on two armored personnel carriers, stolen from the Nigerian military several months earlier.[9] The militants opened fire on the people at a busy market that was open at night when temperatures cool.[10] Having set homes ablaze, the militants gunned down residents who tried to escape from the fire.[1]
The official death toll was first set at 200 on 7 May. Zanna and local resident Waziri Hassan both reported at least 336 deaths.[9]