UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday utterly condemned the killing of civilians by Boko Haram in north eastern Nigeria.

"The Secretary-General is appalled about reports of hundreds of civilians killed around the town of Baga, Borno state, near Nigeria's border with Chad in the past week," said a statement issued by Ban's spokesperson.

The UN chief also slamed the attack in Maiduguri, also in Borno state, during which a 10-year-old girl was used to detonate a bomb at a market, killing at least 20 people.

"The secretary-general utterly condemns this depraved act at the hands of Boko Haram terrorists," the statement said.

Ban added that the United Nations stands ready to assist the Nigerian government and all affected neighboring states in bringing an end to the violence and to alleviate the suffering of civilians with all available means and resources.

Nigeria's Boko Haram fundamentalists had laid a siege on northern part of Nigeria with incessant bomb explosions and killings, forcing residents to flee to other parts of the West African country believed to be safer.

The group seeks to enshrine the Islamic Sharia law in the constitution of Africa's most populous country.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that attacks in Borno state have uprooted about 7,300 Nigerians, forcing them into western Chad. Enditem

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