Scores have been killed this month, including in the northeastern town of Benisheik in Borno state, where at least 142 people were slaughtered by presumed Boko Haram fighters who came disguised as soldiers, set up checkpoints and fired on motorists and bystanders.
Some of the recent violence has targeted vigilante groups which have formed to help the military.
The northeast remains under a state of emergency imposed on May 14.
The phone network has been switched off in much of the northeast since the emergency measures were declared, a move the military said would help prevent the Islamists from coordinating attacks.
Some have suggested that the lack of phone service has prevented civilians from sounding the alarm during attacks.
While the phones remained down in Gujba, calls to Damaturu were going through on Sunday.
Boko Haram has said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north, but the group is believed to made up of different factions with varying aims.
The group has attacked churches, mosques, newspaper offices, the security forces, politicians and a United Nations building, among other targets.
A toll earlier this year said the conflict is estimated to have cost more than 3,600 lives, including killings by the security forces. The current figure is likely much higher.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and top oil producer, roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.
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