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MAIDUGURI: Boko Haram fighters killed at least 43 farm workers and wounded six in rice fields near the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Saturday, an anti-extremist militia told AFP.
The assailants tied up agricultural workers and slit their throats in the town of Koshobe, the militia said.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack, saying: “The entire country has been wounded by these senseless killings.”
“We have recovered 43 bodies, all of them euthanized, along with six others with serious injuries,” said militia leader Babakura Kolo, who assisted the survivors.
“It is certainly the work of Boko Haram, which operates in the area and frequently attacks farmers.”
The victims were workers from Sokoto state in northwestern Nigeria, about 1,000 kilometers away, who had traveled northeast to look for work, said another militant, Ibrahim Liman, who gave the same price.
“There were 60 farmers who were hired to harvest rice in the rice fields. Forty-three were massacred, with six wounded, ”Liman said.
Eight others were missing, allegedly kidnapped by militants, he said.
The bodies were taken to the village of Zabarmari, 2 kilometers away, where they would be kept before the burial on Sunday, said resident Mala Bunu, who was involved in the search and rescue operation.
Last month, Boko Haram militants massacred 22 farmers working in their irrigated fields near Maiduguri in two separate incidents.
Boko Haram and Iswap, its ISIS-linked rival, have increasingly targeted loggers, herders and fishermen in their violent campaign, accusing them of spying and passing information to the military and the local militia fighting them.
At least 36,000 people have died in the militant conflict, which has displaced some two million since 2009.
The violence has also spread to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the militants.
The attack took place when voters went to the polls in local elections in Borno state.
The elections have been repeatedly postponed due to increased attacks by Boko Haram and Iswap.
