By Ayo Kehinde
No fewer than 40 farmers have been killed, while many others are yet to be ascertained after Boko Haram/Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists attacked a community in the Kukawa local government area of Borno State.
Our Correspondent learnt that residents of the area say the terrorists stormed Damba village in Doron Baga ward at about 4:30 pm on Sunday, with sophisticated weapons and rounded them up.
One of the farmers who escaped unhurt said the terrorists, before embarking on a shooting spree, told them that farming activities, which according to them were banned, had not been lifted in the area, hence the terrorists said that anyone found farming there henceforth would be killed.
“We are the people farming at Damba on Sunday, the terrorists came and met us in the area. They chased us out of the farm and said that they had not lifted the ban on farming in the area.
“We were farming together with those killed. The dead bodies that I counted were about 40. The rest that were shot in the bush and those that escaped with gunshot wounds could not be accounted for”, he disclosed.
Also, a community member who escaped the attack, currently in Baga town, said such attacks on the farmers by the terrorists have been a recurring issue.
He added that the alarming rate of the present killings pushed them to voice out the challenges the farmers and fishermen were going through in the Kukawa local government area of the State.
“It was around 4:30 pm that the attack occurred, and it was around 6 pm that the survivors reached us. We used a boat to ferry them to a safer place with the help of the military.
“About 200 of them that escaped were rescued. They told us that over 40 of them were killed. They are mostly fishermen and crop farmers”, the source said.
While reacting to the development, Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has sympathised with the families of the victims of the attack.
Prof Usman Tar, the state Commissioner of Information and Internal Security, Borno State, told newsmen on Monday that an investigation has commenced on the circumstances behind this attack.
Initial report indicates about 40 farmers have been killed while the whereabouts of many who escaped the attack are being traced for reunion with their families.
Zulum condemned this attack in strong terms and called on the officers and men of Operation Hadin Kai to track and obliterate the insurgent elements that are operating at Dumba and other similar enclaves in the Lake Chad Area. Gov Zulum also commiserated with the victims and their families, while assuring that those still missing will be found and reunited with the families.
He said,”With deep sorrow and anguish, I received the sad news of the attack on Dumba, where scores of our farmers and fishermen were killed by the terrorists. On behalf of the government, I sympathise with the victims’ families. Let me assure the citizens of Borno that this matter will be thoroughly investigated for further necessary action. Let me use this opportunity to call on the armed forces to track and deal decisively with the perpetrators of this heinous act of violence against our innocent citizens.”
The farmers strayed off the security corridor established by the security agencies and went into an enclave that is yet to be cleared.
Such enclaves are usually prone to nocturnal attacks by marauding terrorists, as well as being contaminated with landmines. Gov Zulum called on citizens not to venture beyond the safety zones that are demarcated by the government and security agencies.
Gov Zulum highlighted that “the Government has clearly demarcated the land for safe farming and economic activities, allowing the military to focus on clearing the unsafe areas where security clearance and combat operations could be conducted. It is important for our citizens not to go into areas where there may be an exchange of fires, or where the terrorists may be lurking and trespassing”, noted Gov Zulum.
The Borno Government also commended the armed forces for their consistent effort in ensuring that vast tracks of land are cleared for human resettlement and agriculture, consistent with Gov Zulum’s sustainable solutions to managing internal displacement in Borno State.
The Borno Government callef on farmers, fishermen and local communities to operate within the “safe corridors” demarcated by the armed forces.
The safe corridors consist of vast tracks of land which were cleared and decontaminated of explosives where settlement, fishing and farming could be safely carried out under the dutiful watch of our gallant security forces.
“It is dangerous to stray away from the demarcated safe corridors in order to enable the security forces to concentrate on safeguarding lives while continuing to engage the terrorists without fear of the citizens being used as human shields by the terrorists. The Government also calls on citizens to report any sighting of strange movements within or near their settlements and farmlands for speedy action,” he said.
