No fewer than 65 people whose occupations were farmers were reportedly killed when terrorists struck at different times in Katsina and Borno states.
According to Daily Trust account, 50 people were killed and an unspecified number injured when the Boko Haram fighters attacked Kala Balge Local Government Area of Borno State on Sunday.
Rann and adjoining villages have remained targets of attacks by terrorists, who killed and maimed people over the years.
The locals who are mostly farmers, fishermen and businessmen have lost their loved ones and fortunes to terrorists due to the limited presence of security operatives and full restoration of civilian authorities.
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During Sunday’s killing, a source told that the insurgents accused the locals of spying on them and revealing their location to the military despite several warnings to look the other way.
It was learnt that the villagers were rounded up and held hostage by the proscribed group a few kilometres away from Rann town, the local government headquarters around 3pm.
The source said the ISWAP fighters withheld them for about 2 hours before releasing the elderly men and three children among them and later slaughtered the rest one after the other.
The source said, “In the last few weeks, Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists have lost scores of their fighters to the military onslaught against them.
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“They believed that most of their locations were revealed to the military by the locals. They warned them to stay away from their location but the civilian did not listen. They called them betrayals and said the killing would serve as lessons to others.”
A Counter Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in Lake Chad, Zagazola Makama, said the fighters attacked the peasant farmers who were working in their fields with machetes.
“The bodies were dismembered while some were tied up and their throats slit by the terrorists.
“More dead bodies have been recovered, not less than 50 corpses and they have been buried according to Islamic rites Monday evening. The search for bodies continues because many are still missing,” he said.
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The House of Representatives member from the area, Zainab Gimba, confirmed the incident to the BBC Hausa service.
She said the incident indeed was a sad one and urged the military to do more to protect lives and property.
It would be recalled that the insurgents had in November 2020 killed 48 rice farmers working on their farms in Zabarmari town in Jere Local Government Area of Borno State.
The farmers were slaughtered by insurgents at the neighbouring Koshebe town in Mafa Local Government Area.
They were reportedly working on their farms in different locations including Zabarmari, Koshebe, Bulaburin, Karkut, Gudda, Gudda Cizama and Azaya before they were assembled at Koshebe and killed.
