Nigeria slaughter
60 feared dead at hands of Boko monsters
Suspected members of the Islamic militant group Boko Haram killed at least 40 rice farmers and fishermen in Nigeria as they were harvesting crops in the country’s northern state of Borno, officials said.
One said the death toll could rise to about 60.
The attack Saturday in a rice field in Garin Kwashebe came on the same day that residents were voting for the first time in 13 years to elect local councils, although many didn’t go to cast their ballots.
The farmers were reportedly rounded up and summarily killed by armed insurgents in retaliation for refusing to pay extortion to one militant.
Malam Zabarmari, a leader of a rice farmers association in Borno state,
said at least 40 and up to 60 people could have been killed.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari expressed grief over the killings.
“I condemn the killing of our hardworking farmers by terrorists in Borno State. The entire country is hurt by these senseless killings.
My thoughts are with their families in this time of grief,” he said.
House of Representatives member Ahmed Satomi, who represents the Jere Federal constituency of Borno, said at least 44 burials took place on Sunday.
“Farmers and fishermen were killed in cold blood.
Over 60 farmers were affected, but we only have so far received 44 corpses from the farms,” he said.
Satomi said the farmers in Garin Kwashebe were attacked because they had disarmed and arrested a Boko Haram gunman on Friday who had been tormenting them.
Boko Haram and a breakaway faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province, are active in the region. Boko Haram’s more than decade-long insurgency has left thousands dead and displaced tens of thousands.
Officials say Boko Haram members often force villagers to pay illegal taxes by taking their livestock or crops, but some villagers have begun to resist.
In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno state.