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Sunday, November 29, 2020
They surprised men and women while working in the fields: the attackers attacked a village in Nigeria. Dozens of people die. The UN speaks of the most brutal attack this year. So far it is not clear who carried out the attack. In the region, however, there are repeated attacks by Boko Haram.
Dozens of people were killed in a brutal attack in northeast Nigeria, according to the UN. Gunmen on motorcycles attacked men and women yesterday in Koshobe and surrounding areas in Borno state while they were working in the fields. This was reported by Edward Kallon, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria. “The incident marks the most brutal direct attack on innocent civilians this year.” Several other people were injured.
There are also reports that several women have been abducted, he said, and called for their immediate release. A local resident, Danjuma Saidu, said that some of the fatalities had gunshot wounds and others had their throats slit. Residents of the area were “shocked by the brutality of yesterday’s attack and fear for their safety,” Kallon said.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari strongly condemned the attack. “The whole country is wounded by these senseless killings,” his spokesman Garba Shehu said, quoted by him. Consequently, the head of state described the “terrorist killings” as insane.
It was not initially clear who was behind the atrocity. However, for years there have been attacks in Borno by the Islamist terror group Boko Haram or the splinter group ISWAP, which swore allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) a few years ago. According to the UN refugee agency, at least 2.4 million people are fleeing in northeast Nigeria and neighboring countries due to violence by armed groups.
Farmers, fishermen and families trying to restore part of their livelihoods after a decade of conflict are too often targeted, Kallon criticized. Helping rural communities to plow the land and rebuild their livelihoods is therefore one of the UN’s priorities and the only way to avoid an impending food crisis in Borno state.
