From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Edward Kallon has called for the prosecution of Boko Haram insurgents that beheaded over 40 farmers in a Borno town last weekend. .
Kallon made the call in a statement on Wednesday after visiting Zabarmari, a remote community near Maiduguri where the slain farmers were buried weekend after the attack. He said the community has been in grief and pains since the incident occurred. He described the attack as unspeakable cruelty, saying the perpetrators should be brought to book.
“With more slain civilians recovered almost every day since the attack, it is clear that this was an act of sheer inhumanity and abject cruelty. The perpetrators of this heinous and senseless act should be brought to justice,” he said.
He said surviving farmers and villagers retold accounts of the attack during his visit to the community on Tuesday. “Innocent civilians – men and women – were ruthlessly killed. Details on losses are still coming in and the search for missing people is still ongoing. More bodies are being recovered. Farmers have also reported some of the missing women may have been abducted,” he said.
He called for immediate release and safe return to the community of the women and girls. He said recovery of more civilian bodies from the farmland almost every day since the attack, clearly show that the terror act as “sheer inhumanity and abject cruelty.”
He said the UN was committed to doing their utmost to support the people of Borno State especially the the most vulnerable people, many of whom live in such remote areas.
“This attack on Saturday is unfortunately one of too many such attacks targeting farmers, fishermen and families who are trying to recover some livelihood opportunity after over a decade of conflict. Such direct assaults against innocent civilians jeopardize the ability for the most vulnerable people to survive the adversity there are facing, and which we are striving to alleviate,” he said.