Boko Haram abducts 20 more women, local officials say

KANO, Nigeria, June 9 (UPI) -- Gunman have reportedly abducted at least 20 women from a village in northeastern Nigeria.

Local officials said Monday that the gunman, believed to be members of Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, arrived in Garkin Fulani in broad daylight.

The women were members of the ethnic Fulani group. The Garkin Fulani settlement lies just several miles from Chibok, where Boko Haram abducted more than 270 schoolgirls in an April attack.

"We are working to establish the circumstances surrounding the abduction," an anonymous government official told CNN.

Alhaji Tar, a member of the civilian force, Vigilante Group of Nigeria, told Bloomberg News that the gunman also kidnapped three men.

"We got the information that they went there and took away the women at the time none of the males were there," Tar said. "The three young men they met there could not help the women, as the gunmen also ordered the three of them to enter the Hilux vans and took all of them away."

This incident follows months of Boko Haram attacks and kidnappings. April's abducted schoolgirls are still in captivity, despite international efforts, while suspected Boko Haram militants killed an estimated 245 villagers in a series of attacks in northeastern Nigeria last week.