About 66 people, mostly rice farmers and fishermen were killed by suspected members of Boko Haram sect in Koshobe village near Zabarmari, Jere Local Government Area of Borno State, reliable sources have said.
The attack also left scores of people injured from gunshot wounds. The incident happened on a day Borno was conducting its first local government election after more than a decade.
Reacting to the attack, President Muhammadu Buhari expressed grief over the killing of farmers on rice fields at Zabarmari in Jere Local Government of Borno, describing the terrorist killings as insane.
The president made the condemnation in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Sunday.
President Buhari said the government had given all the needed support to the armed forces “to take all necessary steps to protect the country’s population and its territory.”
Buhari said: “I condemn the killing of our hardworking farmers by terrorists in Borno State.
The president made the condemnation in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Sunday.
President Buhari said the government had given all the needed support to the armed forces “to take all necessary steps to protect the country’s population and its territory.”
Buhari said: “I condemn the killing of our hardworking farmers by terrorists in Borno State.
”The entire country is hurt by these senseless killings. My thoughts are with their families in this time of grief.
”May their souls Rest In Peace.”
A security operative not authorized to talk to the press, confirmed the incident, saying the attack took place yesterday.
Koshobe, located north east, an a village under Mafa Local Government Area, mostly a Hausa and Saurian settlement who engage in farming and fishing is about 25kilometres drive from Maiduguri, the state capital.
Sources said, the attackers armed with Ak47 rifles surrounded the Koshobe River when victims were busy fishing on the banks of the river and opened fire, leaving 66 persons including women dead. Others sustained gunshot wounds.
“No fewer than 66 people have been killed this morning in Koshobe, a community under Mafa LGA after Dusuman. the victims were reported to have been slaughtered in a rice farm while other were fishing in the nearby river. So far, 43 bodies have been recovered and currently in Zabarmari town of Jere Local Government Area.
The attackers were more than 100 who came on motorbike numbering about 50,” one fleeing resident, Adamu Abdullahi said.
