Three aid workers killed in Boko Haram attack in Nigeria: UN

Rann, where nearly 80,000 people are living and supported with humanitarian assistance, has been vulnerable to attacks before.

Boko Haram fighters killed nine people from the camp in September last year, as they worked on farms just outside the town.

In January 2017, a botched Nigerian air strike intended to hit jihadist fighters killed at least 112 people as aid workers distributed food.

Commanders at the time called the bombing a mistake and blamed “the fog of war”.

The latest Rann attack comes nearly two weeks after Boko Haram kidnapped 110 schoolgirls from the town of Dapchi in neighbouring Yobe state.

The kidnapping and continued attacks in the region have raised questions about the extent of the Nigerian government’s claims to have virtually defeated Boko Haram.

Boko Haram’s quest to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria has left at least 20,000 dead and made more than 2.6 million others homeless since 2009.

The jihadists have increasingly turned to kidnapping for ransom as a way to finance their operations and win back key commanders in prisoner swaps with the Nigerian government.