Insurgents believed to be members of the outlawed Boko Haram have killed nine candidates writing the ongoing National Examination Council (NECO) and at least 14 others in separate attacks in Damaturu, capital of Yobe State, North-East Nigeria.

A report in the Lagos-based National Mirror said the students were from Government Secondary School, Damaturu.

The gunmen, according to the paper, “stormed Ansarudeen Private Primary and Secondary School in Jajeri ward of the metropolis and opened fire into the hall a minute after the examination started.”

It quoted an eyewitness as disclosing that one of the victims went to write the exams for somebody else, before he met his untimely death at about 3pm yesterday when the gunmen struck.

Another eyewitness, Ibrahim Mohammed, was quoted as saying: “I saw five students sitting for the exams killed on the spot. Four others were killed as they were entering the school premises.”

In a related development, about 14 people, including fishermen and tea vendors, were killed on Monday at the Alau Dam on the outskirts of Maiduguri by suspected members of the sect, according to National Mirror.

“Our correspondent reliably gathered that the gunmen ambushed the people around the dam and before they opened fire,” the paper said, adding: “They told their victims: ‘You are those exposing our activities to security agencies, today your days are over, as we will kill all of you.’ ”

Alau Dam is one of the biggest dams in troubled Borno State and its water treatment plant supplies water to people of Maiduguri and its environs.

“The killings appear to mark the resumption of the sect’s murderous campaign, which has been largely put on hold by military operations in the North following President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states,” the paper said.

Boko Haram’s leader, Ibrahim Shekau (shown in photo) has been declared wanted, with the United States of America promising $5 million for any useful information leading to his capture.