Vigilante Groups Kill Scores of Boko Haram Militants as Kidnapped Girls Still Missing

Scores of Boko Harams militants have been killed by Nigerian vigilantes in a village in Northern Nigeria, according to local reports.

The ambush came a few weeks after the terror group abducted almost 300 schoolgirls. Leader of the muslim fundamentalists, Abubakar Shekau has warned he will not release the hostages unless the government releases some of its prisoners.

Residents in northern states have been forming vigilante groups to combat the militants, who kill hundreds of innocent people in deadly attacks on a regular basis.

In Kalabalge, a village about 250km from Borno state, residents decided to take action after learning of an imminent Boko Haram attack.

In order to repel the attack, locals ambushed two trucks with gunmen, officials said.

At least 41 militants were killed during the battle, Al Jazeera reported.

Kalabalge trader Ajid Musa told AP news agency that after residents organised the vigilante group, "it is impossible" for terrorists to successfully stage attacks there.

"That is why most attacks by the Boko Haram on our village continued [to] fail because they cannot come in here and start shooting and killing people," he said.

Boko Haram, which opposes the westernisation of Nigeria and wants to impose sharia law in the country, kidnapped almost 300 girls on 14 April.

About 50 of them later managed to escape, but some estimated 220 are still missing.

Several NGOs have urged the militants to release the girls and put an end to their reign of terror in Nigeria.

The US announced it will send intelligence and hostage negotiation experts to help find the missing girls.

Later, the UK, France and China also offered help.

Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, accused of not putting enough effort in the negotiations for rescuing the girls, has refused to sanction a prisoner exchange for the release of the kidnapped victims.

The Boko Haram leader, Shekau has said that if the demands were not met, the schoolgirls will be sold in the marketplace "as willed by Allah".