Nigeria- 43 Farm Workers Killed in Borno by Boko Haram

• The attack took place in a rice field less than ten kilometers from Maiduguri, the capital of the State of Borno.
• “There were 60 farmers who were contracted to harvest paddy in the rice fields. Forty–three were slaughtered, with six injured,” another inhabitant, Ibrahim Liman.
• About 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes since the start of the conflict in 2009, which killed more than 36,000 people.

At least 43 farm laborers were brutally murdered on Saturday by members of the terrorist group Boko Haram who literally slaughtered them in the state of Borno, in northeastern Nigeria. “It is no doubt the [ work ] of Boko Haram who operate in the area and frequently attack farmers,” said Kolo, who helped transport the victims.

“We have recovered 43 dead bodies, all of them slaughtered, along with six others with serious injuries,” Babakura Kolo, the leader of a pro-government self-defense group told the AFP news agency.

 The attack took place in a rice field less than ten kilometers from Maiduguri, the capital of the State of Borno. Such attacks are however not a new phenomenon in the area. Last month, 22 farmers were killed in their fields near the city.

“There were 60 farmers who were contracted to harvest paddy in the rice fields. Forty–three were slaughtered, with six injured,” another inhabitant, Ibrahim Liman, told the French news agency AFP.

Eight farmers are missing and are presumably kidnapped by the jihadists, the same source said.

The victims’ bodies were transferred to the village of Zabarmari, two kilometers from the rice field, and funerals are scheduled for Sunday, according to one of its inhabitants, Mala Bunu, who participated in the relief operations.

The attack occurred on election day for regional representatives and councilors from the 27 constituencies in the state of Borno.

About 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes since the start of the conflict in 2009, which killed more than 36,000 people.

For several months, the authorities were encouraging the displaced to return to their villages, because it was no longer financially viable to take care of them since those people depend almost entirely on humanitarian aid to survive and no longer have access to the camps.

As a result, a significant number of displaced persons returned to their villages, which had been devastated by the violence.

The attackers are increasingly targeting loggers, herders, and fishermen whom they accuse us of spying and of passing on information to the military and militias that are fighting jihadist violence in the region.

The conflict, which has lasted for more than a decade, has created a dramatic humanitarian crisis, recently exacerbated by poor harvests and restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Edward Kallon, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria said that they recorded similar levels of food insecurity as in 2016-2017, at the height of the humanitarian crisis, when the risk of hunger threatened the northeast.

About 4.3 million people were in food insecurity in June 2020, during the time of scarcity. The UN expects this figure to increase by 20% next year.