At least 40 farmers have been killed in an attack by armed groups in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State, according to government officials.
Fighters from the Boko Haram group and ISIL (ISIS) affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP) were suspected of carrying out the attack, Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum and State Information Commissioner Usman Tar said on Monday.
Tar said the groups rounded up dozens of farmers in Dumba on the shores of Lake Chad and shot them dead late on Sunday.
“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,” Tar said.
The state government has ordered soldiers battling rebel fighters in the region “to track and obliterate the insurgent elements” operating around Dumba and their enclaves in the wider Lake Chad area, Tar added.
The farmers “strayed off” the safe limit set by the armed forces for farming and fishing in the area that is a sanctuary for fighters from ISWAP and Boko Haram and is dotted with landmines and “prone to nocturnal attacks”, the commissioner said.
Governor Zulum warned civilians to stay within designated safe zones that have been cleared by the army of both fighters and munitions.
He also called for an investigation into the attack by the armed forces.
Lake Chad, which straddles Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, serves as a hideout for Boko Haram and ISWAP, which use it as a base to launch attacks.
Boko Haram took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their version of Islamic law.
Some 35,000 civilians have been killed and more than two million have been displaced in the northeastern region, according to the United Nations.
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