A Borno restive town has been thrown into deep mourning following the killing of 13 farmers by Boko Haram, the second such incident in three years.
This is just as the Police have confirmed an attack by terrorists on a Muslim procession in Rugar Kusa village, Musawa Local Government Area (LGA), Katsina State, during which a total of nine residents lost their lives.
Survivors of the Borno massacre said the 13 farmers were beheaded on their farmlands in Mafa LGA in the central part of Borno on Sunday evening. They were buried on Monday at Zabarmari, a farming community some 25 kilometres to Maiduguri, the state capital.
Residents said the farmers, who hailed from neighbouring villages of Koshebe and Karkut, were thrashing grains on the farm when Boko Haram swooped on them.
“They came in groups from different directions and cornered people on the farm, though some escaped. They started beheading the people they caught,” Abubakar Yusuf, a farmer and survivor told Daily Sun on phone.
He said the attack occurred at about 5pm on Sunday, adding that some were also missing during the incident.
“We don’t know if some of those missing have been kidnapped by Boko Haram or are in the bush trying to locate their way home. We have buried 13 today (Monday),” said Ahmad Khali, a Zabarmari resident.
A CJTF told the reporter on condition of anonymity the insurgents may have parked their motorcycles somewhere in the bush to avoid security and sneak into the farmland.
In another attack in Bama Local Government also, on Sunday, Boko Haram killed a farm owner and kidnapped four workers on the farm, residents said. The attack on Zabarmari farmers came barely three years after the community experienced a similar incident.
Boko Haram had beheaded over 100 farmers from Zabarmari on farmlands in November 2020. The incident attracted national outrage and sympathy from many government officials, including a Federal Government delegation and UN humanitarian office in Nigeria.
And in Katsina, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu, said the hoodlums, armed with AK47 rifles, launched an attack on a Malaud procession in the area, at about 10.30pm, last Sunday, killing seven people on the spot.
Upon receipt of a report on the attack, the Police, in a press statement on Monday, said “Police operatives were mobilised and swung into action, where they succeeded in repelling the attack.
“Seven people were shot dead and 18 people sustained gunshot injuries as a result of the attack and were evacuated to the General Hospital, Musawa, for medical attention. However, two people out of the injured were confirmed dead by doctors while receiving treatment. The investigation is still ongoing and efforts are on with a view to arresting the perpetrators of the dastardly act.”