43 killed, 6 injured, 8 missing as Boko Haram attacks rice farmers in Borno

… Nigerians mourn at burial

Boko Haram insurgents on Saturday killed at least 43 farmers and wounded six in the famous rice-farming town of Zabarmari, located in the greater Maiduguri area of Jere Local Government Area of Borno, Northeast Nigeria.

Anti-jihadist militia told AFP that the assailants tied up the agricultural workers and slit their throats in the village of Koshobe.

“We have recovered 43 dead bodies, all of them slaughtered, along with six others with serious injuries,” said militia leader Babakura Kolo, who helped the survivors.

“It is no doubt the handiwork of Boko Haram who operate in the area and frequently attack farmers,” Kolo said.

The 43 victims were working on rice farmlands when they were attacked. Reports say they were mostly labourers from Sokoto State in northwest Nigeria, who were contracted to harvest paddy in the rice fields.

“There were 60 farmers who were contracted to harvest paddy in the rice fields. 43 were slaughtered, with six injured,” said Ibrahim Liman, another militiaman.

He said eight others were missing, presumed to have been kidnapped by the jihadists.

As at the time of filing this report, the Nigerian Army and Police were yet to issue an official statement confirming or refuting the report.

However, the news has caused a stir among Nigerians including popular ENDSARS protester, Rinu Oduala, who blamed authorities for keeping quiet about the fresh massacre trending on social media.

“Boko Haram just beheaded 43 farmers, but protesters are the terrorists. We are speaking up that our country is not safe! But they said we should shut up,” said Oduala.

“They kidnapped Chibok/ Dapchi girls, you didn’t speak up because it didn’t affect you. They perpetrated# Z ab arm ari massacre, you are not speaking up because it doesn’t affect you. Very soon...”

Amnesty International Nigeria, reacting to the killings, said such targeting of civilians, once again, shows the group’s contempt for human life.

“Boko Haram has consistently and deliberately targeted civilians across Borno State. Boko Haram must end its campaign of vicious and unlawful killings of civilians,” Amnesty International said.

In 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari said Boko Haram has been technically defeated. He told BBC that the insurgents could no longer mount “conventional attacks” against security forces or population centres.

But the group has continued to unleash mayhem of varying degrees in the North, causing hundreds of people to flee their homes and abandon their means of livelihood.

The recent response to persistent terrorism in the North and the entire country was the rehabilitation and reintegration of 600 ‘repentant’ Boko ha ram members in july, an act that was widely condemned.

Meanwhile, Nigerians Sunday mourned during the burial of the farmers killed in an attack by suspected Islamist militants while security forces searched for dozens of people who are still missing, Reuters reports.

Roughly 30 of the men killed were also beheaded in the attack, which began on Saturday morning in Zabarmari village in northeast Borno state. Residents said a total of 70 people are feared dead.

While no group claimed responsibility, such massacres have been carried out in the past by Boko Haram or the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). They are both active in the region, where Islamic militants have killed at least 30,000 people in the past decade.