At least 50 people have been killed by soldiers near the town of Borno-state, Rann in northeastern Nigeria, near the Cameroon border, witnesses said.Since 2009, northeastern Nigeria – and the Borno region in particular – has been the scene of violence led by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram.
Millions were displaced and about 350,000 people died as a result of the attacks and the humanitarian crisis that followed, according to the United Nations.Over time, Boko Haram is divided, with a functioning faction called Islamic State West Africa Province also blamed for an offensive in the West African country.
Locals blame the recent Boko Haram attacks.Military spokesman Brigadier General OnyemaNwachukwu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”We are all saddened by the killing of our innocent people who were working on their farms,” said Harun Tom, a local farmer.”We buried 50 people today in Rann. They were preparing their farms before the rainy season, some going to look for firewood.”
Agid Muhammad, a farmer who recently returned to Rann after living in an internally displaced persons camp, described the massacre.”Thousands of Boko Haram motorcyclists armed with guns and machetes surrounded our working people on their farms before killing them one by one,” Muhammad said, adding that his uncle had not been found. “They were tied up with ropes and killed. As I speak to you most people are not heard.”
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