NIGERIA - A horrifying massacre against farmers in the northeastern portion of the country wherein at least 110 individuals were killed according to the United Nations, which raised the initial toll of 43 people and then at least 70 dead.
The reported killings took place in the early afternoon of Saturday in the village of Koshobe and other rural communities in the Jere local government area close to the capital of the conflict-hit Borno state, Maiduguri.
United Nation's humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, shared in a statement on Sunday that armed men on motorcycles led the brutal attack on civilian men and women who were at the time harvesting their fields.
He also added that aside from 110 civilians who were ruthlessly killed and many others who were wounded during the said attack, several women were also believed to have been kidnapped during the incident.
Kallon also mentioned that the incident is the most violent direct against innocent civilians this year as he calls for the perpetrators of the said senseless and heinous act to be brought to justice, New Straits Times reported.
As of the moment, there has been no claim of responsibility for the attack. However, in recent years, the armed group Boko Haram and its splinter faction, the Islamic State in West Africa Province or ISWAP, have carried out many deadly assaults in the said area.
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The two groups are still active in the region. Their fighters have killed not less than 30,000 individuals in the last decade during an armed campaign that has displaced some two million people, which also prompted them to the neighboring countries such as Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.
Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian President who took office in 2015 and promised to fix the security crisis, had denounced the latest massacre.
Through his spokesperson, the President also shared that he condemns the killing of their hard-working farmers by terrorists in Borno state as these senseless massacres hurt the entire country.
On the other hand, Sulaiman Aledeh, a security analyst, shared that many individuals in the country are growing frustrated due to the authorities' inability to contain the conflict.
He also mentioned to Al Jazeera from Lagos that if they have seen what happened to Niger, President Mahamaduo Issoufou had to sack his security chiefs when 89 soldiers were killed. Nigerians are asking why they are keeping these people.
He also added that the problem here has to do with the current government. They seem to be rewarding loyalty over professionalism, which prompted Nigerians to think by now that the government should have tried a few good other men to get them out of this mess.
Babaganan Umara Zulum shared on early Sunday that at least 70 farmers were killed after speaking in the village of Zabarmari, where he attended the burial of 43 people whose bodies were recovered on Saturday.
The Borno Governor also urged the federal government to recruit more force on their side to protect farmers in the said region, NPR reported.
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