Nigeria's Islamist insurgency killed 44 people in recent days, said a leader of an overwhelmed band of vigilantes who have failed to turn the tide in northern Nigeria's protracted conflict.
Fighters believed to be members of the Islamist terror group Boko Haram hunted down residents in the small towns of Dille and Huyim on Monday and Tuesday, at one point burning down three churches, said Solomon Buba, chairman of a local vigilante group.
Boko Haram also kidnapped five women and two children, he said, continuing a pattern of attacks and abductions across northeast Nigeria.
"They were shooting at every possible target," said Mr. Buba, whose members fled the heavy machine-gun fire. "In fact, myself and other residents were lucky to have escaped."
Separately, gunmen kidnapped a German citizen in Gombi, a town just south of Boko Haram's stronghold, on Wednesday morning, said Othman Abubakar, police spokesman for the local Adamawa state. Police are looking into whether the hostage takers are members of Boko Haram, which has kidnapped a string of Europeans in that general region, he said. "Security forces are working assiduously to try and find the abducted."
"We are aware of the case," said a spokeswoman for Germany's Foreign Ministry. In such situations, however, she said the ministry can't provide further details.
The ministry has a travel warning for the region of Africa south of the Sahara, including Nigeria, citing the danger of terrorist attacks and kidnappings.
Vigilantes in the northeastern corner of the country have tried to secure peace in the north by delivering tipoffs about Boko Haram's movements to the Nigerian military. Officials have described the development as a breakthrough in the five-year fight between the sect and Nigeria's state.
But the emergence of these vigilantes has sparked a murderous backlash by Boko Haram. In six months, the group has killed 2,053 civilians, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch, many of them slaughtered for being members of—or simply close to—those vigilante groups.
The war between Boko Haram and Nigeria's government has left more than 14,000 people dead in the past three years, according to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
A spokesman for Nigeria's military couldn't be reached by telephone. Previously, generals have talked about the challenge of extending army protection to so many villages and small towns dotted across the northeast.
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