Kano , Nigeria ( CNN ) Hundreds of decomposed corpses were discovered buried in shallow graves in the streets of the northeastern Nigerian town of Damasak this past weekend , according to local officials and a resident . The town had recently been freed from the Boko Haram terror group in a joint Nigerian-Chadian military operation . A provincial government committee was visiting the area as part of an effort to assess the level of destruction in towns that had been in the deadly grip of Boko Haram . `` We found hundreds of dead bodies in shallow graves and on the streets of Damasak during our visit , '' Damasak local government spokesman Babagana Mustapha told CNN on Monday . `` Those bodies in shallow graves have badly decomposed while those found on the streets were desiccated from [ exposure to ] dry ‎winds , '' Mustapha added . The victims included men , women and children murdered by Boko Haram when they seized the area in November , said Abubakar Kyari , a senator-elect for the region . `` The staggering number of dead bodies found in Damasak is a testimony of the large-scale atrocity Boko Haram committed when they were in control of the town '' Kyari added . Mustapha said the bodies were buried in 20 clearly marked mass graves . Although Mustapha did not give a precise number of corpses recovered , Damasak residents who participated in the exhumations put the figure at more than 400 . `` ‎We collected over 400 corpses from the streets and in shallow graves during our visit in Damasak , '' said Idris Karimbe , one of the volunteers who took part in the burial . `` The number of bodies we recovered this time around far exceeded the ones found last month , '' said another resident , Musa Bremah‎ . Bremah was referring to the discovery of around 90 bodies in a shallow grave outside Damasak last month after its recapture . ‎A regional military coalition involving troops from Nigeria , Niger , Chad and Cameroon has in recent months recaptured swathes of Nigerien territory seized by Boko Haram . The joint military operation is part of an ongoing collaborative effort at crushing the Islamist group that has widened its deadly attacks to Niger , Chad and Cameroon .
The town had recently been freed from the Boko Haram terror group . Volunteer from burial : `` ‎We collected 90 corpses from the streets and in shallow graves ''