Marauding Boko Haram insurgents have killed 10 farmers and abducted several others in the Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State.
Apart from this attack, which occurred late Saturday afternoon in the fields between Bulakunkumma and Maiwa villages of the Baram Karowa ward of the LGA, the insurgents also obtained N4m from a businessman in Zannari ward as ransom.
An impeccable source, Ya Kalu Bukar, who confirmed the attack to The PUNCH, gave the number of abductees as four, but another source, Goni Mohammed, said up to nine persons were abducted.
“They came roving across farms in search of food and cash,” Bukar told The PUNCH on the phone. “When the farmers said they couldn’t afford the amounts they requested, they killed 10 of them, all men, and went away with four.”
He said the insurgents killed the 10 farmers and abducted the other four to ensure that they did not leave anyone to report their operations immediately to the security agents, who could launch an immediate manhunt for them.
Mohammed, the second source, however, said, “The insurgents abducted nine farmers when they told them that they didn’t have any cash to give.”
Our correspondent could not reach the spokesman for the Borno State Police Command, Sani Shatambaya, on the phone to speak on the incidents.
The Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, had recently warned farmers in the rural communities not to stay on their farms beyond 5pm, when the insurgents usually begin roaming the outskirts for prey.
He had directed the troops securing the communities and the agro-rangers deployed to secure farmers in the fields to ensure that no farmer remained in the fields by 5pm.
