Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) insurgents have murdered at least 50 farmers in Malam Karanti village, Kukawa local government area of Borno State.
It was gathered that the attack took place after Boko Haram terrorists ambushed the farmers in the ISWAP-controlled area, located about 9 kilometres from Baga town, on Thursday.
A local revealed that the farmers and some fishermen had hired the ISWAP commander in charge of the location to protect them in exchange for levy.
The local said, “They have papers of the commander in charge of Malam Karanti up to Dawashi. His name is Amir Akilu. They enjoyed his protection for months before the latest incident.”
According to him, the gunmen took advantage of the commander’s absence to attack the farmers whom they said were spying and siding with their enemies.
A survivor said the insurgents surrounded them and threatened to shoot anybody who tried to escape.
“In fact some of us had started harvesting beans when the assailants struck. They gathered us in one place and threatened to kill anyone who attempted to escape, but some of us chose to run rather than die miserably in their hands.
“They killed over 50 people; majority of them were slaughtered. They also abducted some. Today, they were in Dawashi doing the same killing but there was no information on the number of people affected,” he said.
Neither security agencies nor the government has commented on the tragic incident.
This attack is coming barely five months after the terrorists massacred at least 40 farmers at Dumba community in the same Baga area.
