At least 40 farmers have been killed in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno state in a weekend attack by suspected Boko Haram and ISWAP militants, according to government sources.
The Borno state governor Babagana Umara Zulum has said jihadists affiliated with the Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) groups were suspected of being behind the attacks on farmers in the Dumba region. Zulum also called on the military to thoroughly investigate the incident and to “track and deal decisively” with the perpetrators. Nigeria-based Boko Haram jihadist group launched its insurgency in 2009, opposing Western education and seeking to impose a radical interpretation of Islamic law. ISWAP is a Sunni Islamic extremist group with a sphere of operations that encompass the country’s north-eastern region and the southern Lake Chad Basin.
State information commissioner Usman Tar said the groups rounded up dozens of farmers in Dumba on the shores of Lake Chad and executed them on Sunday (12 January). The farmers “strayed off” the safe area demarcated by the Nigerian military for farming and fishing in the region that is a sanctuary for fighters from both jihadist groups and is dotted with landmines and “prone to nocturnal attacks”, the commissioner said. The governor therefore urged residents to remain within designated “safe zones” that have been cleared of both militants and explosives by the military. The conflict has become Africa’s longest-running militant struggle that has led to approximately 35,000 civilians killed and over 2 million displaced, according to the United Nations.