Residents of northern Cameroon accused Boko Haram extremists yesterday of killing seven hostages and abducting eight girls who were on board a bus hijacked 11 miles from the Nigerian border on Sunday.

Seven victims’ bodies had been dumped near the border with Nigeria, said Chetima Ahmidou, whose brother — the bus driver — was among those slain.

Mr Ahmidou claimed that eight girls from Koza between the ages of 11 and 14 had been taken back to Nigeria by Boko Haram.

The jihadist group has intensified its attacks in Cameroon and Niger over the past week after both countries agreed to provide soldiers to a multinational military force.

Another bus was also hijacked on Sunday in the Nigerian village of Akada-Banga, Bama district, when Boko Haram seized around 20 hostages.

It also abducted more than 200 schoolgirls last year from Chibok, Nigeria.

The group has fought a five-year insurgency against the Nigerian government, launching scores of attacks and killing 10,000 people last year alone.