Gunmen from the Boko Haram jihadist group killed five people and abducted several others as they collected firewood in restive northeast Nigeria, security sources said Friday.

Fighters opened fire on the group as they fetched wood on Thursday outside the town of Dikwa, 90km from the regional capital Maiduguri, an anti-jihadist militia leader, Babakura Kolo, told AFP.

“A group gathered and went outside the town to collect firewood but Boko Haram terrorists attacked them, killing five of them,” Kolo said.

“The loggers fled and some of them were abducted by the attackers while trying to escape.”

Dikwa is home to more than 70 000 people displaced by the jihadist violence who live in several camps where they rely on food and humanitarian assistance from aid agencies.

Many have turned to felling trees from the surrounding bushland to sell as firewood to make money to buy extra provisions.

The decade-long jihadist conflict has killed 36 000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in the northeast.

Boko Haram have increasingly targeted loggers, herders and fishermen in their violent campaign, accusing them of spying and passing information to the military and the local militia fighting them.

A rival jihadist faction has split from Boko Haram to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State group.