- Over 200 hundred Nigerians killed in violent attacks
- More than 110 farmers killed in Borno rice field attacks not 43-UN
- Gov Zulum joins mourners to conduct mass burial for 43 slain farmers
- Nigerians carpet Buhari, decry high rate of insecurity in the country
Over 200 hundred Nigerians died through violent attacks across the country in the last one week.
while there were violent killings across the country especially in Kaduna, Zamfara and Katsina, the Killings of rice farmers in Borno was one that shocked the nation.
On Saturday alone according to disputed official figures over 40 rice farmers were slaughtered by Boko Haram terrorist while working on their farms in Kwashebe village, Jere Local Government Area of Borno State. The village is near Maiduguri, the state capital.
The terrorists were reported to have first tied up the farmers, who were working in rice fields, before killing them.
An eye witness to the killings, who managed to escape the attack, Usman Ismail, said the assailants surrounded them as they were working their farms in Garin-Kwashebe village.
“Some of them walked up to us and asked that we follow them to a far end of the rice field.
“We were scared because we knew they were Boko Haram who usually come to harass us for money and food. But as we got to the edge of the field, we spotted one man at a distance slitting the throat of someone. We panicked and began to run. I was lucky to escape but others could not,” Ismail said.
Hamidu Bala, another resident of Zabarmari, who is also a member of Rapid Response Squad, a Borno government-established task force against banditry, gave an insight into how the 43 farmers were killed.
He said on Friday, a group of farmers were able to disarm a lone Boko Haram member, who they handed over to the local security operatives.
“That action was what may have prompted reprisal from the insurgents,” Bala said.
While leading other state government officials at the burial of the 43 victims who were buried in mass graves on Sunday, Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum, while commiserating with bereaved family members called on the federal government to engage more security personnel to help deal with the security challenges in the state.
“We are here to sympathise with the people of Zabarmari over this sad occurrence.
“It is disheartening that more than 40 citizens were slaughtered while they were working in their farmlands. Our people are in very difficult situations, they are in two different extreme conditions. On one hand, they stay at home, they may be killed by hunger and starvation, on the other,they go out to their farmlands and risk getting killed by the insurgents. This is very sad,” Zulum said.
Zabarmari, a farming community located about 25km from Maiduguri, is the heartland of rice production in Borno State. Most of the residents of the area are Hausa migrants from North-west Nigeria.
The community had suffered similar attacks, both in the township and in the rice fields, in the past.
Many prominent Nigerians have reacted to the killings and the rising cases of insecurity in the country noting that the attacks are an indication that the Buhari administration had failed woefully in terms of security and welfare of citizens.
In a tweet, a former aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri said Buhari should take the blame for the killings “Under
@GEJonathan, every Boko Haram killing was blamed on Jonathan. But under General @MBuhari, each Boko Haram attack is blamed on the service chiefs, Governors or others. The double standard has made some parts of Nigeria the worst place on Earth to live in”
Also reacting to the development in a tweet, female activist, Aisha Yusuf described Buhari as a mannequin who has no use, “A mannequin is better than Buhari @MBuhari . Mannequin has its uses. Buhari has zero use. He is a parasite who has taken all his life and has never given.
When he is given anything, he ensures the next person never benefits. His only sense of achievement is having people down”
While earlier reports put the death toll at Borno rice field at 43, the United Nations operations in Nigeria has however said that over 110 people were killed in the attack
A statement by the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, on Sunday, described the attacks as horrifying insisting that not less than 110 people were killed with many other persons injured in one the deadliest attack by the Boko Haram terrorist group in recent time.
Kallon said: “I am outraged and horrified by the gruesome attack against civilians carried out by non-state armed groups in villages near Borno State capital Maiduguri.
“At least 110 civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded in this attack.”
He revealed that: “In early afternoon of 28 November, armed men on motorcycles led a brutal attack on civilian men and women who were harvesting their fields in Koshobe and other rural communities in Jere Local Government Area. Reports we are receiving are indicating these innocent farmers were the victims of this callous violence.”
Kallon, also condoled with the victims’ families and people of Nigeria, “I extend my sincere condolences to the families of the civilians who lost their lives in this atrocious attack. I also wish a speedy recovery to those who were wounded in the incident.”
Kallon also lamented that several women may have been kidnapped in the attack.
He said: “We have also received reports that several women may have been kidnapped. I call for their immediate release and return to safety.”
He added that: “My thoughts are also with the rural communities in the area, who are shocked by the brutality of yesterday’s (Saturday’s) attack and fear for their safety.”
“The entire UN system and the humanitarian community working to provide life-saving and development assistance to the most vulnerable in Borno State are outraged by the incident. Such direct attacks against innocent civilians jeopardize the ability for the most vulnerable people to survive the adversity they are facing, and which we are striving to alleviate.
“The incident is the most violent direct attack against innocent civilians this year. I call for the perpetrators of this heinous and senseless act to be brought to justice.
“It is unfortunately one of too many such attacks targeting farmers, fishermen and families who are trying to recover some livelihood opportunity after over a decade of conflict.
“I strongly condemn this attack and any act of violence against innocent civilians and I firmly urge all actors on the ground to respect international laws and humanity,” he said.
