Aside from this attack which occurred late afternoon in the fields between Bulakunkumma and Maiwa villages of Baram Karowa ward of the LGA, the insurgents also sneaked into Zannari ward, Maiduguri metropolitan part of the same LGA (Mafa) of the same day (Saturday) and squeezed out N4 million from a businessman (name withheld) to avoid abduction.
An impeccable source, Ya Bukar, who confirmed the attack to The PUNCH, gave the number of abductees as four, although another source, Goni Mohammed, has their number as nine.
“They came roving across farms in search of food and cash,” Bukar told The PUNCH on the phone, narrating further, “When the farmers said they couldn’t afford the amounts they requested for, they killed 10 of them, all men, and went away with four.”
He said the insurgents killed the 10 farmers and abducted the four they could accost to ensure that they did not leave anyone to report their operations immediately to the security agents, who could launch an immediate manhunt for them.
Mohammed, the second source, however, said, “The insurgents abducted nine farmers when they told them that they didn’t have any cash to give.”
The state police are yet to issue any statement on the incidents.
Borno Police Command spokesman, ASP Sani Shatambaya, could not be immediately reached on the phone to confirm the incidents.
The PUNCH could recall that the state governor, Babagana Zulum, recently warned farmers in the rural communities against remaining in the fields beyond 5 p.m., when the insurgents usually begin roaming the outskirts for prey.
He had warned the troops securing the communities and the agro-rangers deployed to secure farmers in the fields to ensure that no farmer remained in the fields by 5 pm.
