By Simdi Gloria:-
The number of rice farmers gruesomely massacred in northeastern Nigeria by the deadly boko Haram terrorists totalled at least 110 people, raising tolls initially indicating 43, according to the United Nations.
The UN humanitarian coordinator in the country, Edward Kallon said in a statement on Sunday,
“At least 110 civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded in this attack after initial tolls indicated 43 and then at least 70 people died in Saturday’s massacre by suspected Boko Haram fighters.
“The incident is the most violent direct attack against innocent civilians this year,” Kallon said, blaming “non-state armed groups” without naming Boko Haram.
I call for the perpetrators of this heinous and senseless act to be brought to justice,” he added.
This killing was centred on the village of Koshobe near the Borno state capital Maiduguri, with assailants targeting farm workers on rice fields, with a pro-government anti-militant militia saying the assailants tied up the labourers and slit their throats.
Kallon said the assailants — “armed men on motorcycles” — also targeted other communities in the area.
Governor Babaganan Umara Zulum, the Borno State Governor attended the burial on Sunday in the nearby village of Zabarmari of 43 bodies recovered on Saturday, saying the toll could rise after search operations resumed.
The victims of these gruesome massacres include dozens of labourers from Sokoto state in northwestern Nigeria, roughly 1,000 kilometres away, who had travelled to the northeast to find work.
Kallon, citing “reports that several women may have been kidnapped”, called for their immediate release.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack on Saturday, saying: “The entire country has been wounded by these senseless killings.
Boko Haram and a rival dissident faction, the IS-affiliated Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have been blamed for increasing attacks on loggers, farmers and fishermen whom they accuse of spying for the army and pro-government militia.
Last month Boko Haram militants slaughtered 22 farmers working on their irrigation fields near Maiduguri, in two separate attacks.
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