Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have killed 13 farmers in central Nigeria, United Nations and security sources told AFP on Thursday.
The attack in Niger state shows the growing reach of jihadists from the country’s northeast as they forge closer ties with criminal gangs in central and northwestern Nigeria.
The gunmen raided the Anguwan Mai-Giro community in Shiroro district on motorbikes on Wednesday and opened fire on farm workers. Three women were among those killed, the sources told AFP.
Bologi Ibrahim, spokesman for the Niger state governor, condemned the attack and blamed “underworld” gunmen without saying how many people had died.
A security source and a UN staff member working in the region both told AFP that 13 people were killed and said Boko Haram jihadists were responsible.
“The attackers were obviously Boko Haram terrorists and they killed 13 people working on a private farm outside Magami village,” the security source told AFP.
“Most of the victims were shot in the head, which shows the terrorists attacked to kill,” added the same source, who asked not to be named.
Boko Haram and other jihadist groups have waged a 15-year insurgency in northeast Nigeria that has killed more than 40,000 people.
Central and northwest Nigeria have been plagued for years by gangs of criminals known as “bandits,” who raid villages, kill and abduct residents, and burn homes after looting them.
By working alongside these gangs, jihadist groups have increasingly established a presence in central Niger state, officials and analysts say, having previously seized villages and made camps in the area near where the attack took place.
In April, Boko Haram fighters killed two soldiers as well as vigilantes protecting nearby Allawa village. Troops were then withdrawn from the village, forcing residents to flee in fear of attack.
The UN source said the victims of Wednesday’s raid were residents of Allawa who had been displaced six months ago.
“They fled their homes to escape from the insurgents but ended up being killed by the same people they were avoiding,” the source said.
