Nigeria: at least 43 agricultural workers killed with their throats cut



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funeral

Photo caption,

43 peasants were buried on Sunday.

43 people were killed in what Nigeria’s president called “incomprehensible” in an attack in northeastern Nigeria.

According to reports from the region, agricultural workers working in rice fields near Maiduguri, the capital of the state of Borno, were tied up and killed by cutting their throats.

It was claimed that the incident was the bloodiest attack in the region where the West Africa branch of Boko Haram and Isis is active in recent months. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said: “I condemn the murder of our hard-working farmers by terrorists in Borno state. The whole country is shaken by these senseless killings. My thoughts are with the grieving families.”

According to his spokesman Garba Shehu, Buhari also said that “the murders of terrorists are inconceivable”.

“We found 43 bodies, all were killed, six people were seriously injured,” one militia that helped survivors told AFP news agency.

Later it was reported that other bodies were found, while the exact number of victims is not known.

It is among the reports that 15 women have been kidnapped.

Another militia told AFP that the victims were agricultural workers from the state of Sokoto, in the southwestern state of the country, who traveled a thousand kilometers to find work in northeastern Nigeria.

Photo caption,

The victims were buried at the funeral on Sunday.

Babagana Zulum, governor of the state of Borno, also attended the funeral ceremony for the victims.

The governor called on the federal government to send more troops to protect the region’s farmers.

“Our people are in very difficult conditions. On the one hand, if they stay in their homes, they will starve, and on the other hand, they risk being killed by the rebels if they work in the fields. This is very sad,” he said.

State parliament member Ahmed Satomi told Premium Times that peasants were killed on Friday for taking the gun and arresting a Boko Haram militant who tortured them.

It is alleged that the peasants had previously been targeted by Boko Haram militants who suspected they had provided information about them to the military.

Last month, Boko Haram militants killed 22 farmers in two separate attacks.

Despite efforts to prevent Boko Haram attacks, the organization has increased its attacks in recent months.

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