Nine students burned to death and at least 14 other people were killed in an attack on a Cameroonian village by suspected Boko Haram militants.
According to local media reports, the village of Kamouna was attacked by 80 militants on July 19. Seven troops stationed in the village were overpowered by the assailants, Nigerian missionary Pastor Edward Ngosu told the Associated Press. "They began shooting in the air to scare the attackers" but to no avail, he added.
Another resident, Bachirou Ahmad, told AP that a raid on a nearby village the previous week by suspected Boko Haram militants had led those living in Kamouna to ask for greater protection from the government. It was not granted.
Reports suggest that the bodies of the burnt students were later found in the bush. Homes and other buildings are also said to have been destroyed in the attack which killed a total of 23 people.
Boko Haram has killed thousands since its uprising in 2009, mostly in northern Nigeria but more recently also in Cameroon and Chad.
On Monday, Barack Obama met with newly-elected Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and commended his approach to ending extremism in Nigeria.
Ahead of taking office in May, Buhari vowed to do better than his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, and end Boko Haram's insurgency for good.
Boko Haram would "soon know the strength of our collective will," he said in a televised speech.
"In tackling the insurgency, we have a tough and urgent job to do. Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will. We should spare no effort until we defeat terrorism."
More recently, Buhari told Vice News that the militant group did not represent true Islam. "To go and kill people in churches and mosques, and slaughter children in their sleep and school, bomb people in the market places, in Moto parks and say 'Allahu Akbar' - I say this only means one thing, you either don't believe in God, or you don't know what you are saying," he said.
"So I think that Boko Haram have to be severely kept away from Islam. They are not Islamic, they could be anything but they are not Muslims."
Obama told reporters on Monday that Buhari has integrity and "a very clear agenda in defeating Boko Haram extremists of all sorts inside his country."
Since Buhari's election, Washington has pledged $5million in support for Nigeria's military.
