Members of the Boko Haram sect on Saturday killed 45 farmers in Zamarmari area of Jere local government area of Borno State.
Zabarmari is also located less than 20 kilometres from the Counterinsurgency operation Lafiya Dole Command centre in Maiduguri, the state capital. The town is based downstream of the river Alau Dam along the River Yedzeram, the dam was constructed under a multi-million dollar world bank urban water supply project.
According to Humangle, the barbaric incident which happened Saturday afternoon led to tension and an uneasy feeling in the town this evening when the news broke.
Nasiru Usman, one farmers who escaped during the attack, went to town with the news. He said the attackers also abducted seven farmers. Usman said trouble started after some farmers apprehended a Boko Haram insurgent who approached them with request for food.
“Unknowingly, he was accompanied by dozens of other militants who were hiding around the bush,” he said.
“So immediately they tied him and seized his guns, his other colleagues quickly stormed the scene, and opened fire om the farmers, while they took to their heels. At exactly 11am, the group declared a blanket killing against all the farmers harvesting their products. They began by abducting seven, then went on rampage and began killing every one in sight.
“So far, we have recovered up to 45 bodies. Our civilian JTF, police and Military are still searching for more bodies. We won’t know how many are missing so far for now since more bodies are still being found.”
Several bullet wounds were seen on the body of the deceased farmers, according to another source who helped in recovering the bodies and immediately prepared for burial.
Residents have insisted that the state Governor has to see the bodies of the 43 victims, all of whom had their throats slit. According to AFP, the victims were mostly labourers from Sokoto state in northwest Nigeria, who were contracted to harvest paddy in the rice fields.
Zabarmari is known to be within the sphere of influence of Boko Haram parent group, however, it’s splinter Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction have previously conducted an attack in the town. The latter group is notorious for targeting farmers cultivating their farmlands.
The violence in the region has taken a toll of over 30,000 fatalities with about two million people displaced from their homes since 2009.
