At least 44 farmers in Borno State were beheaded by Boko Haram insurgents on Saturday, a member of the House of Representatives has said.
Ahmed Satomi, representing Jere federal constituency, said the attack happened on November 28 at Zabarmari rice field.
The farmers were harvesting their crops when the insurgents attacked them because “they had on Friday disarmed and arrested a Boko Haram gunman who had been tormenting them”.
“Farmers and fishermen were killed in cold blood,” the lawmaker said. “We have so far received 44 corpses from the farms and we are preparing for their burials tomorrow by God’s grace.”
Other sources also confirmed the killing, saying the farmers “were rounded up and summarily slaughtered by the armed insurgents”.
Hassan Zabarmari, a former chairman of a rice farmers association in the State, said: “It was a sad incident that took place at about 11 am today [Saturday, November 28].”
“The farmers were attacked at the Garin-Kwashebe rice field, and according to reports reaching us since afternoon, about 40 of them were killed,” Zabarmari told Premium Times on phone.