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At least 110 people have died in cold blood in Nigeria while working in their fields, according to a United Nations report, in the bloodiest attack on civilians this year in the northwest of the country. 43 victims were found with their necks cut, reports Agerpres.
“In the early afternoon, armed men arrived on motorcycles and brutally attacked men and women working in the fields in Koshobe,” said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon.
“At least 110 civilians were cruelly killed and many others injured in the attack,” said Kallon, who said it was “the most violent attack against innocent civilians this year.”
The massacre took place on the day of the Borno local state elections in Nigeria, the first since the beginning of the Boko Haram uprising in 2009. Since then, more than 36,000 people have died and more than two million have been forced to flee. their homes.
“It is undoubtedly the signature of Boko Haram, which operates in the region and frequently attacks farmers,” said the representative of a pro-government self-defense group, who indicated that 43 victims had their throats slit.
The first 43 victims were buried on Sunday in the neighboring town of Zabarmari, in the presence of the Governor of Borno state, Babaganan Umara Zulum, while the search for other victims continued in these swampy waters and where access is difficult.
The UN statement did not mention the jihadist group Boko Haram, or the dissident faction of the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap), which has increased its violence in the region and controls part of Nigerian territory.
The attack took place in a rice field located less than 10 km from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, the epicenter of the Islamist insurgency. Last month, 22 farmers had already died in their fields, not far from this city.
Farmers, fishermen and loggers are the usual target of jihadists who accuse them of transmitting information to the army or of failing to pay the jihadist “tax”, which is compulsory for economic activities in some areas of Borno.
Publisher: ML
