Killings: Buhari’s government has failed – Murray-Bruce

Senator Ben Murray-Bruce on Sunday said the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has failed.

Senator Murray-Bruce stated this following the Saturday killing of farmers in Zamarmari area of Jere local government area of Borno State.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports members of the Boko Haram sect on Saturday killed over 40 farmers in Zamarmari.

Murray-Bruce described the killing as horific, saying the government needs to do better to protecting the lives of citizens.

“The news from Borno State is horific. My condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones.

“The government needs to do better. As it stands, the government has failed in its primary role to its citizens,” Murray-Bruce tweeted.

The barbaric incident which happened on Saturday afternoon led to tension and an uneasy feeling in the town on Saturday evening when the news broke.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed grief over the killings, describing the act as insane and prayed that the souls of the victims rest in peace.

“I condemn the killing of our hardworking farmers by terrorists in Borno State. The entire country is hurt by these senseless killings. My thoughts are with their families in this time of grief. May their souls Rest In Peace.”

Reacting in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President expressed grief over the killing of the farmers on rice fields at Zabarmari, in Jere Local Government of Borno State, describing the terrorist killings as insane.

The statement was titled, ‘President Buhari Condemns As Insane, Boko Haram Killing Of Farmers in Borno State.’

The statement quoted Buhari as saying, “I condemn the killing of our hardworking farmers by terrorists in Borno State. The entire country is hurt by these senseless killings. My thoughts are with their families in this time of grief. May their souls Rest In Peace.”

The statement added that the President had given all the needed support to the armed forces “to take all necessary steps to protect the country’s population and its territory.”

How the killings happened:

Nasiru Usman, one farmers who escaped during the attack, went to town with the news. He said the attackers also abducted seven farmers. Usman said trouble started after some farmers apprehended a Boko Haram insurgent who approached them with request for food.

“Unknowingly, he was accompanied by dozens of other militants who were hiding around the bush. So immediately they tied him and seized his guns, his other colleagues quickly stormed the scene, and opened fire on the farmers, while they took to their heels. At exactly 11am, the group declared a blanket killing against all the farmers harvesting their products.

“They began by abducting seven, then went on rampage and began killing every one in sight. So far, we have recovered up to 45 bodies. Our civilian JTF, police and Military are still searching for more bodies. We won’t know how many are missing so far for now since more bodies are still being found,” he said.

Several bullet wounds were seen on the body of the deceased farmers, according to another source who helped in recovering the bodies and immediately prepared for burial.

Residents have insisted that the state Governor has to see the bodies of the 43 victims, all of whom had their throats slit.

According to AFP, the victims were mostly labourers from Sokoto state in northwest Nigeria, who were contracted to harvest paddy in the rice fields.

Zabarmari is known to be within the sphere of influence of Boko Haram parent group, however, it’s splinter Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction have previously conducted an attack in the town. The latter group is notorious for targeting farmers cultivating their farmlands.

The violence in the region has taken a toll of over 30,000 fatalities with about two million people displaced from their homes since 2009.