Boko Haram Kills at Least 60 In New Nigerian President’s First Week In Office

He won the election on a pledge to rid the country of Boko Haram, but in his first week in office, Nigeria's newly sworn-in leader, Muhammadu Buhari, has seen the killings of at least 60 people in militant attacks.

The latest deaths came late last night when at least 31 people died after suicide bombs exploded in the crowded marketplace of Jimeta, the new section of the town of Yola, in Adamawa state.

The alleged perpetrators are members of the Islamist militants group Boko Haram — the defeat of which, Buhari swore he would make his top priority after taking office on May 29. But the latest attack indicates the group is not intimidated, and is not going anywhere fast.

"I can see blood splattered everywhere, including my car, but I can't give any detail because we are all running," one witness to the explosion, Ayuba Dan Mallam, told the Associated Press on Thursday night.

Authorities said the bodies of at least two suicide bombers were among the 31 dead. At least 38 more were injured in the attack on Yola, which has seen an influx of some 300,000 refugees in recent weeks fleeing violence perpetrated by the militant group in other parts of northeast Nigeria.

Two hours before the market bombing, eight soldiers were blown up by a suicide car bomb at a military barracks checkpoint outside Nigeria's largest city of Maiduguri, which is also the hometown of Boko Haram, the AP reported.

Related: Nigerian President Vows to Tackle 'Godless' Boko Haram in Inauguration Ceremony

On Friday, the United Nations urged Buhari to investigate reports of atrocities committed by both Boko Haram and government forces.

"Civilians in northeast Nigeria have been living through horrifying acts of cruelty and violence by Boko Haram," the UN's Human Right Commissioner, Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein, said in a statement. "These include wanton killings, summary executions, forced participation in military operations — including the use of children to detonate bombs, forced labor, forced marriage and sexual violence, including rape."

Zeid also referenced "extremely worrying reports" of abuses by Nigerian soldiers.

"I urge [Buhari] to act without delay to establish proper independent inquiries into alleged violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law by the Nigerian armed forces and related militia, and in particular into the deeply disturbing allegations that thousands of people have died or been killed while held in detention by State institutions," Zeid said.

Violence in the area has killed at least 13,000 people and displaced some 1.5 million since Boko Haram began its bloodied insurgency six years ago, according to the AP.

Related: 'You Don't Fight War With War Crimes': Highlighting Nigerian Military Abuses — Again