Boko Haram fighters killed
nine people from a camp that was mistakenly bombed by the Nigerian
military earlier this year, an aid worker and a resident said on Friday.
The aid worker, who asked not to be
identified because he is not authorised to talk to the media, said the
attack happened near Rann, in northeastern Borno state, on Wednesday.
“Nine people were killed while working on
their farms about three kilometres (just under two miles) from Rann,”
he told AFP. “They were all IDPs (internally displaced persons) living
in the camp but used the opportunity provided by the relative calm in
the area to tend to their farms for the rainy season. “The attackers
were no doubt Boko Haram and used the cover provided by the crops to lay
ambush to the farmers… They attacked them with machetes and knives.
“They seized nine and slit their throats while others escaped and
returned to the camp with cuts on their bodies. Some, however, fled to
neighbouring Cameroon.” Usman Wumbi, an IDP who fled to the border
village of Wumbi, confirmed the account, adding:
“These attacks have become frequent,
especially in the rainy season. “They (Boko Haram) regularly ambush
farmers and kill them.” Boko Haram fighters killed at least two people
in a raid on Wumbi in June 2016, forcing hundreds across the border.
Details of the latest incident have been slow to emerge because of poor
to non-existent telephone networks in the remote area, which has been a
hotspot for Boko Haram activity.
Fighters active in the area are thought
to belong to the Boko Haram faction led by Abubakar Shekau. A botched
Nigerian air strike, intended to hit jihadist fighters, hit the IDP camp
in Rann on January 17, killing at least 112 as aid workers distributed
food. The military blamed “lack of appropriate marking of the area” on
maps for the mistake, despite running the camp and having provided NGOs
with logistical details for their activities.
Many of those in the camp were local
people forced from their homes. Most were from the Kanuri ethnic group
dominant in Borno state and also among Boko Haram. Nigeria‘s military
considers Boko Haram a spent force. But attacks continue, particularly
against farmers in hard-to-reach parts of rural Borno.
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