Edward Kallon, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, has paid a condolence visit to Zabarmari village in Borno.
More than 43 farmers of the community were gruesomely murdered by Boko Haram last Saturday at Koshebe.
In a statement on Wednesday, Kallon said there was no word to describe his feeling.
“It is with great sadness, but also indignation, that I met the families of the victims of Saturday’s violent attack and their communities to extend my most sincere condolences, on behalf of the United Nations and humanitarian partners, and to commiserate with them on these atrocious circumstances”, he said.
“Farmers and villagers I have met have retold accounts of unspeakable cruelty. Innocent civilians – men and women – were ruthlessly killed. Details on losses are still coming in and the search for missing people is still ongoing. More bodies are being recovered.
“Farmers have also reported some of the missing women may have been abducted. I call for these innocent women and girls to be immediately released and for their safe return to their communities.”
Kallon called the killings an act of sheer inhumanity and abject cruelty, and demanded that perpetrators of the heinous and senseless act be brought to justice.
The top UN official added that he met Governor Babagana Zulum, Governors of Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba States, and the Deputy Governor of Yobe State.
He disclosed that they all agreed that stabilizing and developing the north-east is not only important for the people living in these states but also crucial for the whole country and key to the sub-region.
Kallon said those he met in Zabarmari are still in shock.
“Idris Ahmad, one of the farmers I spoke with yesterday, told me his pain and grief, the trauma farmers are going through as their sons, brothers, cousins were killed in atrocious conditions and many had their throat slit by assailants armed with machetes.
“They now fear for their life and that of their children. They have not yet gone back to harvest the farms. They have no other resources and dread that everything they worked for is now lost.”
The Coordinator reiterated UN commitment to do its utmost to support the people of Borno, particularly the most vulnerable, many of whom live in remote areas.
Kallon assured that with the necessary resources and access, the UN team in Nigeria will do more to provide urgent assistance to those most in need in the North-east.
