The gunmen opened fire and threw explosive devices in Kolori and Ba'ana Imam, in Damboa Local Government, Borno state, in the attacks on Monday evening.
Although nobody has claimed responsibility and the militants are rarely on horseback, the attacks bore the hallmarks of the Islamist group, which has killed thousands in its six-year-old bid to set up a state adhering to sharia law in the northeast.
More than 700 people have been killed in militant attacks since President Muhammadu Buhari took office on May 29, vowing to crush Boko Haram. Most of the recent bombings and shootings have been in Borno, the birthplace of the insurgency.
Telephone networks are poor in the area where the latest attacks occurred. A military source, who wished to remain unnamed, said details only emerged on Tuesday evening when people who escaped arrived in Biu, the nearest major town.
"The area is remote and about 24 people were killed," he said...