New Delhi: At least 43 farmers were killed and six others were left severely injured on Saturday in rice fields by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria’s northeastern state of Borno. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the gruesome attack on farmers by the jihadists near Maiduguri city.
“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. May their souls rest in peace.,” Buhari said in the first statement since the incident took place earlier on Saturday.
The attack occurred after some farmers from Sokoto (a state in northwest Nigeria), roughly 1,000 km away from the spot, were harvesting their products when a Boko Haram militant approached them with a request for food, a local anti-jihadist militia was quoted by several media organisations.
Moments later, the militants tied up the farmers and slit their throats in the rice fields.
“There were 60 farmers who were contracted to harvest paddy in the rice fields. 43 were slaughtered, with six injured,” the militia told AFP, adding that the labourers were killed on rice fields at Zabarmari, a town in Jere local government area of Borno.
Boko Haram has been trying to establish an Islamist state in northeastern Nigeria since 2009, extending its attacks to countries in the Lake Chad Basin. However, the latest incident is one of the worst attacks waged by the jihadist group since its insurgency.