Suspected terrorists from the Islamic State of West Africa Province, ISWAP, launched a deadly attack on Sunday, killing dozens of farmers in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State.
Zagazola Makama, an insurgency and counterterrorism expert from the Lake Chad basin, who announced it in a post on his X account, said the attack occurred on Sunday.
However, Makama said rival Boko Haram elements from the Buduma faction later intervened and helped evacuate injured victims and recover the bodies of the dead.
The security expert narrated that farmers were engaged in irrigation in the dry season along the Lake Chad River Basin Authority, LCRBA.
Makama cited intelligence sources as saying that the farmers had negotiated payment of taxes to an ISWAP faction, which was supposed to grant them access to farmland near Daban Leda.
According to the source, another ISWAP group, unaware of the agreement, ambushed and killed the farmers.
Makama said the president of the Lake Chad Fishermen's Association, Abubakar Gamandi, confirmed the incident.
It quoted Gamandi explaining that some survivors of the attack had denounced the betrayal of the armed group.
“Our farmers were killed after going to the ISWAP enclave to farm. They made an agreement with ISWAP and paid them money,” Gamandi said.
“Unfortunately, another faction of ISWAP, unaware of the agreement, attacked them. This is what the survivors who escaped told us.
“Only when everyone comes out will we be able to determine the total number of victims.”
The security expert wrote that the Nigerian military had established secure perimeters where farmers and fishermen could operate under military protection.
However, some farmers chose to negotiate directly with ISWAP, avoiding safe zones. Unfortunately, this decision had tragic consequences.
Some farmers pay taxes or levies to terrorists or bandits in certain communities in northern Nigeria.