According to local sources, 11 men were killed in the operation that occurred on Sunday morning.

The insurgents reportedly attacked mourners in Takulashi village, barely 15 kilometers to the local government headquarters.

Villagers told Channels Television that they opened fire on the mourners targeting and killing men, after which they selected the women they abducted.

The criminals retreated unchallenged as there is no security outpost in or around the village.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Okon Edet, neither confirmed nor denied the attack.

He said: “You very well know that any issue outside the metropolis is under the control of the military as the entire state is still under state of emergency.”

Since the abduction  of schoolgirls in Chibok from their dormitories in 2014, the town has continued to suffer series of attacks across its villages.