At least 110 civilians killed in frightful Nigeria massacre

Abuja, Nigeria: A “frightful” Killing against farmers in northeastern Nigeria killed at least 110 people; the United Nations has stated, raising tolls initially indicating 43 and then at least 70 dead.

The assassinations took place in the early afternoon of Saturday in the village of Koshobe and other rural villages in the Jere local government area near Maiduguri, the capital of the conflict-hit Borno state.

Edward Kallon, the UN’s humanitarian administrator in Nigeria, stated that Armed men on motorcycles led a cruel attack on civilian men and women who were harvesting their fields.

He also added by saying that at least 110 civilians were ruthlessly killed and several others were hurt in this attack.

He also pointed out that it is possible that women are believed to have been kidnapped.

“The incident is the most violent direct attack upon innocent civilians this year. I call for the perpetrators of this cruel and senseless act to be brought to justice,” Kallon said.

There has been no claim of accountability for the attack, but the armed group Boko Haram and its splinter faction, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), have taken out a series of bloody assaults in the area in recent years.

Both groups are working in the region, where fighters have killed more than 30,000 people in the past decade during an armed campaign that has displaced some two million and has expanded to neighbouring countries including Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in 2015 promising to fix the security crisis, criticised the latest massacre.“I condemn the assassination of our hard-working farmers by terrorists in Borno state. The entire country is hurt by these senseless killings,” the president stated via his spokesman.

But security analyst Sulaiman Aledeh said many in the country are growing frustrated with the authorities’ inability to contain the conflict.