It was reported that Boko Haram insurgents Saturday evening pounced on rice plantations around Zabarmari and Koshebe communities, about 10 kilometres on the outskirts of Maiduguri metropolis. The armed men suspected Boko Haram operatives are said to have killed four farmers and burned their corpses.
The suspected insurgents had, on December 1, invaded dome of the plantations, razing down hundreds of hectares of rice farms, including hundreds of tonnes of the harvested farm produce.
“They (suspected insurgents) invaded our plantations again at about 6pm last Saturday, and again set ablaze hundreds of hectares of our rice farms, brutally gunned down four of our fellow farmers, heaped grasses on the corpses and burned them,” Alhaji Hassan Mohammed, chairman of Zabarmari Rice Farmers Association, told Daily Trust yesterday.
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He added:
“We grow rice, guinea corn, millet and various fruits in the expansive plantations,” the leading rice farmer said, saying, “we had been planning for the dry season farming which has set in; the bulk of the quantity of the food produced on Borno comes from here; but we are scared now; I am afraid, if more security is not provided, we may not grow crops this dry season.
“Government should please come to our rescue by providing more security to enable us practise dry season farming.”
The rising spate of attacks by the suspected insurgents on military formations and communities, killing tens of troops and civilians in Borno State over the last one week, according to Daily Trust investigations, is a concern to the residents of the state.
Security agencies seem careful about issuing statements on the rising spate of attacks.
