President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday decried the deadly carnage inflicted on Borno residents by Boko Haram insurgents, saying it should not have happened as he had given needed resources to the armed forces.

At least 43 farmers were reportedly killed after Boko Haram terrorists ambushed rice farmers in Zabarmari, Jere Local Government Area, this weekend. 

Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said the president sympathised with those affected by the attack, lamenting that he had given enough support to the armed forces to protect civilian lives and territory. 

The president has long rejected calls to sack service chiefs under whom insecurity had worsened since he appointed them upon assumption of office in 2015. 

Instead, Mr. Buhari has continued to postpone the retirement of the service chiefs, including Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai, under whose command the Nigerian Army has conducted some of the most horrific rights abuses since the Civil War. 

FULL PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT:PRESIDENT BUHARI CONDEMNS AS INSANE, BOKO HARAM KILLING OF FARMERS IN BORNO STATE.

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed grief over the killing of farmers on rice fields at Zabarmari, in Jere Local Government of Borno State, describing the terrorist killings as insane.

“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.”

President Buhari said the government had given all the needed support to the armed forces “to take all necessary steps to protect the country’s population and its territory.”

Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
November 28, 2020.