Nigeria: Nearly 43 villagers buried after suspected Boko Haram attack

After one of the deadliest massacres, villagers in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state buried nearly 43 farmers who were killed by suspected Islamist militants.

The villagers dug graves for 43 victims and laid them down, while the local security forces continued their search for dozens of missing villagers.

As per the initial reports, 30 men were beheaded in the attack and the locals are fearing 70 people dead in the attack that started on Saturday morning in thevillage of Zabarmari.

No group has claimed the attack, as of now. However, it is being treated as an act byBoko Haram or the Islamic State West Africa Province — two groups who have been creating problems in the region in the past few months.

Dozens of mourners surrounded the dead bodies which were placed on wooden pallets and wrapped in white burial shrouds. The villagers chanted prayers for the dead which were led by the clerics.

The villagers were tied up in theagricultural fields and the assailants slit their throats in the village ofKoshobe. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the killings and said “the entire country is hurt”.

This attack came almost a month after the Boko Haram militantsslaughtered nearly 22 farmers in two incidents where the farmers were working in fields nearMaiduguri.

The UN has estimated that at least 110 people were killed across the Jere local government area of Borno state.

Urging the federal government to deploy more security forces in the region, Borno state governor Babagana Zulum said, "In one side, they stay at home they may be killed by hunger and starvation, on the other, they go out to their farmlands and risk getting killed by the insurgents."