Boko Haram jihadists have killed four farmers near the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, in the latest bloodshed in the restive region, witnesses and a local militia leader said on Monday.
Dozens of fighters believed to be loyal to Boko Haram factional leader Abubakar Shekau attacked a group of farmers working in their field near Jiddari-Polo on Monday, said the farmers who survived the attack.
They said the Islamist hacked their victims to death and left another farmer with severe injuries. “They came in large numbers on foot while we were picking cowpea in the field and arrested six of us while others escaped,” Mala Umara told AFP.
“They macheted four to death before my eyes and left the other man seriously injured,” he said. A civilian militia leader in the city, Babakura Kolo confirmed the killings.
Umara, 75, was spared by the militants with a message to Nigerian troops stationed in Jiddari-Polo that they should brace for an impending attack from the jihadists.
“They asked me to deliver a message to the soldiers that they should be prepared for an attack soon. “They told me the same message three times and emphasized I convey it to the soldiers,” Umara said.
Abba Muhammad was also among the farmers who escaped when the militants stormed the crop fields. “Five of them armed with guns and machetes encircled me and began asking me the location of soldiers in Jiddari-Polo,” he said.
“One of them shouted that they should attack me with machetes but I instinctively bolted. “Two of them pursued me but I was too fast for them. They took my bicycle with them,” he said.
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