President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed grief over the killing of farmers on rice fields at Zabarmari, in Jere Local Government of Borno State, describing the terrorist killings as “insane”.
At least 43 farmers have been killed in a terrorist attack in Jere council area of Borno on Saturday, multiple sources in Maiduguri confirm to NewsWireNGR.
In a statement issued Saturday, through the Spokesman Garba Shehu, the President was quoted to have said,“I condemn the killing of our hardworking farmers by terrorists in Borno State”.
Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, has been the epicentre of key events and changes in northeast Nigeria during the last decade as a result of Boko Haram activities.
The President said, “The entire country is hurt by these senseless killings. My thoughts are with their families in this time of grief. May their souls Rest In Peace.”
President Buhari said the government had given all the needed support to the armed forces “to take all necessary steps to protect the country’s population and its territory.”
Local hunters involved in search operations earlier retrieved 43 bodies of farmers found dead, with their throats slit.
Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, has been the epicentre of key events and changes in northeast Nigeria during the last decade.
After the arrival of the bodies, sources say, residents, are insisted they would not be buried until the state governor arrived Zabarmari where the massacre happened, Zabarmari is an area, located Jere LGA, approximately 20 km from the garrison city of Maiduguri.
The city witnessed the birth of Boko Haram, subsequent years of violence, as well as the arrival of more than 300,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing their villages that were being attacked.
Informal and formal IDP camps have sprung up around the city, repurposing old government grounds, abandoned lots and real estate to give shelter to those fleeing.
More than 2.7 million people have been displaced by Boko Haram terrorism in the region, according to a UNHCR report.
Many are farmers, as nearly 80 percent of Nigeria’s northern population works in the agriculture industry.
With an increase in Boko Haram attacks and the displacement of nearly two million Nigerians, agricultural production has plummeted and staple food prices have sky-rocketed.
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