The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has condemned the killing of farmworkers in Borno State.

The PUNCH had earlier reported that Boko Haram fighters killed at least 43 farm workers and injured six in rice fields near Maiduguri, the Borno State capital on Saturday.

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.”

The assailants had reportedly tied up the agricultural workers and slit their throats.

“We have recovered 43 dead bodies, all of them slaughtered, along with six others with serious injuries,” militia leader, Babakura Kolo, told AFP.

“It is no doubt the handiwork of Boko Haram who operate in the area and frequently attack farmers,” Kolo added.

The victims were labourers from Sokoto State in northwest Nigeria, roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) away, who had travelled to the northeast to find work, said another militiaman Ibrahim Liman who gave the same toll.