Dozens of people have been killed after suspected fighters from the Boko Haram hardline group attacked a village in northeastern Nigeria, setting fire to shops and homes.

The attack took place on Sunday afternoon.

“Around 150 suspected Boko Haram terrorists armed with rifles and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) attacked Mafa ward on more than 50 motorcycles,” said Dungus Abdulkarim, a police spokesman in Yobe State where the village is located.

“They killed many people and burned many shops and houses. We are yet to ascertain the actual number of those killed in the attack.”

Abdulkarim said the attack was apparent retaliation for the killing of two suspected Boko Haram fighters by local vigilantes.

Yobe is one of three states on the front line of a 15-year insurgency by Boko Haram and other hardline groups which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 2 million. The armed groups have strengthened their position by working with gangs of criminals known as “bandits”, who raid villages, kill and abduct residents, and burn homes after looting them.

Officials said efforts were continuing to confirm the number of people killed in Mafa.

“It has been established that at least 81 people were killed in the attack,” said Bulama Jalaluddeen.

“Fifteen bodies had already been buried by their relations by the time soldiers reached Mafa for the evacuation of the corpses. In addition to these, some unspecified number of dead victims from nearby villages who were caught up in the attack were taken and buried by their kinsmen before the arrival of the soldiers. Many people are still missing and their whereabouts unknown.”

A military official who accompanied the army’s commanding officer for Yobe to Mafa on Monday evening said the route to the village had been rigged with explosives, which troops managed to defuse.

“We recovered 37 corpses and brought them to Babangida General Hospital,” the official told the Reuters news agency. He declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Modu Mohammed, who lives in Mafa, said several more residents were missing and estimated the death toll at more than 100. He said some corpses were still in the bush.