Why 78 Nigerian farmers were murdered
Slaughtered by Boko Haram, and blamed by the state for their own deaths
THE FARMERS—43 of them—were found in the rice fields where they had gone to work. Some had their throats slit. Others were beheaded. In the days that followed locals found evidence of yet more butchery, taking the toll to 78. Boko Haram, a jihadist group that has been fighting since 2009 to carve out a caliphate in north-east Nigeria, was quick to claim credit for the murders. It said they were revenge for the capture of a militant by locals.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Death in a rice field”
From the December 5th 2020 edition
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