Executed Nigerian Farmers Were Caught
- 12-Dec-2020
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Result Of Clash Between Boko Haram And The Army
Nigeria — For years, the farmers had an agreement with Boko Haram militants: They could tend their fields in peace, as long as they did not report the fighters’ presence to the Nigerian Army.
But just over a week ago, that deal was broken. The Islamic group killed more than 70 farmers from Zabarmari, a village in northeastern Nigeria, residents say. The militants accused the farmers of betraying them.
People in rural areas of northeast Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, have largely been left at the mercy of Boko Haram by a government whose security forces have mainly retreated from the countryside to protected garrison towns.
Villagers are caught in a deadly Catch-22. If they report the militants to Nigerian authorities, they risk gruesome reprisals by Boko Haram, a group known for abducting schoolgirls and killing tens of thousands of people. If they stay silent, they risk the wrath of the Nigerian military, which has been accused of routinely shooting villagers dead and burning their houses down during raids, as well as detaining people for years in inhumane conditions.
In Zabarmari, villagers struggle to eke out a living through subsistence farming and fishing.
