*150 people killed in Kukawa, two other villages Wednesday night

No fewer than 400 Nigerians, including children have been killed by Boko Haram since 29 May when President Muhammadu Buhari succeeded former President Goodluck Jonathan, on a platform of wiping out the insurgency, that has claimed about 15,000 lives.

The tally of killings included last night’s massacre in three villages of at least 150 Nigerian Muslims praying in mosques before breaking their Ramadan fast.

The militants mowed down men and children in the three remote villages in the north-eastern Borno state yesterday – and shot women preparing food at home, according to witnesses.

They slaughtered residents and set houses ablaze in the group’s bloodiest day of attacks since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power five weeks ago.

Gunmen killed at least 97 people in Kukawa, the worst-affected village, according to a local called ‘Kolo’ who said he had counted the bodies. A fisherman who saw the attack corroborated the figure.

Kolo said: ‘They wiped out the immediate family of my uncle… They killed his children, about five of them, and set his entire house ablaze.’

Another witness in Kukawa, Babami Alhaji Kolo, who fled to the state capital Maiduguri, said more than 50 militants had stormed the village.

‘The terrorists first descended on Muslim worshippers in various mosques who were observing the Maghrib prayer shortly after breaking their fast,’ he said.

‘They… opened fire on the worshippers who were mostly men and young children. They spared nobody.

‘In fact, while some of the terrorists waited and set most of the corpses on fire, others proceeded to houses and shot indiscriminately at women who were preparing food.’

‘The terrorists first descended on Muslim worshippers in various mosques who were observing the Maghrib prayer shortly after breaking their fast,’ he said. They… opened fire on the worshippers who were mostly men and young children. They spared nobody”.

In two other villages near the town of Monguno, meanwhile, gunmen killed 48 people and injured 11 others, local politician Mohammed Tahir and witnesses said.

‘They selected particular male residents from among the crowd of worshippers… and opened fire on them before setting the two villages on fire and razing them to the ground,’ Mr Tahir said.

Another resident who managed to escape said the militants arrived in vans and on motorbikes.

‘They killed 48 people and injured several others but many of us managed to escape amid volleys of bullets,’ said the resident, who asked not to be named for safety reasons.

Kukawa is around 30 miles away from the two villages near Monguno.

All three are located near Lake Chad, which straddles Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon and has been a focal point of the unrest.