Boko Haram has seized the town of Chibok in Borno state, northeast Nigeria, from where 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped more than six months ago.

“Chibok was taken by Boko Haram. They are in control,” Enoch Mark, a Christian pastor whose daughter and niece are among the 219 teenagers still being held, said.

Mr Mark and the senator for southern Borno, Ali Ndume, said the militants attacked at about 4:00 pm on Thursday, destroying communications masts and forcing residents to flee.

Mr Ndume said that he had received calls from fleeing residents saying the town “was now under [Boko Haram] control”.

“There is no telephone service now in Chibok, which is why it took time before the reports reached me,” he added.

Boko Haram fighters stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok on the evening of April 14 this year and forced students onto trucks in a mass abduction that caused global outrage.

Fifty-seven managed to escape.