Boko Haram militants have staged another abduction of 40 people from the village of Malari, in Borno State, north east Nigeria, just weeks after they kidnapped 172 women and children from Gumsuri village and about eight months after they took away 219 schoolgirls from Chibok.

Most of the people kidnapped in the latest raid were aged aged between 12 and 25, residents who fled the area said on Friday in Maiduguri.

According to the residents, the militants who disguised as Islamic preachers stormed the village, in southern Borno on Wednesday night and declared they had come to win more souls for their own brand of Islam.

“They told us they came to preach and not to attack anybody. They said the society is polluted and they are out to preach words that will change the world but as soon as people gathered in front of the residence of the Village Head, the Boko Haram men separated youths from other men, ordered them to enter their vehicles and drove off,” Mallam Bulama who fled the village to Maiduguri on Thursday after the attack told reporters.

He said the abducted youths were taken away in two Toyota Hilux vehicles driven toward Sambisa forest, a known Boko Haran hideout.

Malari village is about 7 kilometers away from Mulgwai village and about 20 kilometers away from Sambiza forest.

*With additional reports by 247ureports.com/