Farmers in Borno State have resolved to repel terrorist attacks after the death of some of their colleagues in the rice fields of Zabarmari, Mafa Local Government Area of the state.
The attack which occurred on Sunday while the farmers were harvesting their farm produce, led to the death of 13 farmers, according to a farmer, Adamu Muhammad.
The killing of farmers by the terrorists in Borno State has not only persisted but grown quite frighteningly even though security personnel of the civilian joint task force and agro-rangers employed by the state government protect farmers in the fields between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Muhammad, however, said the farmers are beginning to resolve never to flee from any such attacks, stressing that they would not let terrorists chase them out of the only occupation that has been their source of livelihood.
“The terrorists struck by late afternoon, but we only knew about it by 9.30 pm,” Muhammad narrated, disclosing that “they met each farmer on his farm and killed him.”
He continued, “Although they came heavily armed, they did not use their guns to kill the farmers. They slaughtered two with a knife and strangled 11 to death; they then dumped the corpses in a ditch.”
Muhammad stressed that the rice farmers have now built enough resilience not to be frightened out of farming by the terrorists.
“We will not abandon our farms because of any attacks by Boko Haram.
“The government and security agencies should, therefore, provide more security for us, because we will not abandon farming because of Boko Haram attacks,” he said.
While confirming the incident to The PUNCH, the state police spokesman, ASP Nahum Kenneth, said, “Investigation is ongoing to determine the number of people killed. There is no confirmed figure yet.”
Security operatives and the Civilian Joint Task Force have launched an intensive search across the fields for more corpses.
PUNCH