In a Nigerian village, extremists issued a call to prayer and then slaughtered those who turned up

By Pelumi Salako and Ope Adetayo/AP

Weeks after residents of two Nigerian villages ignored a letter from militants announcing they would come to spread their extreme form of Islam, gunmen arrived on motorbikes and embarked on a 10-hour frenzy of killing.

The attackers went from door to door, shooting and setting homes and shops ablaze in the mostly Muslim villages of Woro and Nuku. Later, residents told The Associated Press, they went into a mosque, announced the call to prayer and shot everyone who turned up.

In the deadliest attack in Nigeria in several months, the extremists rounded up villagers, tied their arms behind their backs, lined them up and shot them in the head. Authorities say they slaughtered at least 162 people, while villagers say the toll is higher and that the men kidnapped many others.

The attack is the latest in a surge in violence in the