Nigerian Islamist radical group Boko Haram reportedly killed 10 fishermen by slitting their throats. The brutal executions were carried out in the villages near Baga located near Lake Chad.

Boko Haram, which shares an alliance with the Islamic State, is reported to have used knives to not attract the attention of the Nigerian army soldiers, who were close by in Baga.

"On Monday (27 June) around 4pm, Boko Haram attacked three villages on the shores of Lake Chad where they slaughtered 10 people, all of them fishermen," Abubakar Gamandi, head of the fishermen's union in Borno State, told AFP.

Another fishermen, Buhari Dan-Malam from Doron Baga, said Boko Haram attacked three villages, located around 5km away from Doron Baga.

"The villages attacked were Bundaram, where they killed four people, Fishdam, where they killed two people, and Kwatar Mali, where they killed four people," Gamandi said.

He added that Boko Haram decided not to use guns so as not to attract the attention of soldiers from Baga. "This is why they used knives to slaughter their victims," he said.

Baga, which has witnessed some of the most deadly attacks from Boko Haram, was abandoned by the fishermen since June. However, in the last one month, several displaced Baga residents returned back to their respective villages.

However, many still continue to live away from their homes, for fear of such attacks by Boko Haram.

A local resident told AFP that some of the villagers killed by Boko Haram had returned to their village after the army authorised their return.