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ON PATROL: Nigerian security forces stand guards during Eid al-Fitr celebration in Maiduguri, Nigeria (PA)

INSUREGENTS CARRYING out attacks in northeast Nigeria are not a threat, according to the country’s interior minister Abba Moro.

His comments aimed at Boko Haram militants come after members of the group were responsible for killing 44 people in a mosque during Sunday prayers in the town of Konduga.

Moro told the BBC that the attack was “desperate” and “isolated”.

He said: “The security agencies of Nigeria have been able to push the Boko Haram sect from their major strongholds”.

The suspected Islamic militants wore army fatigues when they gunned down the 44 victims praying at the mosque.

The attack follows a pattern of violence in the country’s northeastern states, where the government declared a state of emergency in May, resulting in civilians being targeted by the Islamist fighter.

Boko Haram is seeking to create an Islamic state inside Nigeria’s northern region, which is predominantly Muslim.

Its name translates as “Western education is forbidden,” and the group have carried out its campaign of violence since 2009 after it was established in 2002.

Previously, President Goodluck Jonathan described Boko Haram as a threat to the integrity of the Nigerian state.