Terrorists killed at least 63 people in northeastern Nigeria while storming a town whose residents had been returned from a displacement camp, the state governor said.

The Friday night attack struck the town of Darul Jamal, which hosts a military base on the Nigeria-Cameroon border.

Babagana Zulum, governor of the embattled Borno state, said that five soldiers were among the dead, a figure confirmed to AFP by a security source.

"It's very sad, this community was resettled some months ago and they went about their normal business," Zulum told journalists at the scene of the attack.

'Shouting and shooting everyone'

"As of now, we confirm that 63 have lost their lives, both the civilians and the army."

Residents said the attack began around 8:30pm local time (1930 GMT), when dozens of fighters arrived on motorbikes, firing assault rifles and torching homes.

"They came shouting, shooting everyone in sight," Malam Bukar, who fled into the countryside with his wife and three children, told AFP. "When we returned at dawn, bodies were everywhere."

Earlier, civilian militia commander Babagana Ibrahim said at least 55 people were killed, while an NGO worker, who asked not to be named, gave AFP a toll of 64.

Nigerian air force says '30 terrorists killed'

In a statement picked up by local media, the air force said it killed 30 "terrorists" who had engaged in a gun fight with ground troops in the town, also known as Dar-El-Jamal.

Many of the victims were families recently relocated from the Government Secondary School displacement camp in Bama, which authorities shut down earlier this year.

Boko Haram terrorists, who largely operate in Nigeria's northern region, have waged attacks against civilians and security forces for years.