Boko Haram fighters has yet again killed about 43 farmers and injured six others working in rice fields near the capital city of Maiduguri on Saturday.
The Boko Haram fighters tied up the farmers in a village of Koshobe and slit their throats, the militia said.
“We have recovered 43 dead bodies, all of them slaughtered, along with six others with serious injuries,” said the militia leader Babakura Kolo, who helped the survivors.
“It is no doubt the handiwork of Boko Haram who operate in the area and frequently attack farmers.”
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.
“There were 60 farmers who were contracted to harvest paddy in the rice fields. Forty-three were slaughtered, with six injured.”
Eight others were missing, presumed to have been kidnapped by the jihadists.
The bodies were taken to Zabarmari village, two kilometres away, where they would be kept ahead of burial on Sunday, said a resident who took part in the search and rescue operation.
Last month Boko Haram militants slaughtered 22 farmers working on their irrigation fields near Maiduguri in two separate incidents.
Boko Haram and ISWAP, its IS-linked rival, have increasingly targeted loggers, herders and fishermen in their violent campaign, accusing them of spying and passing information to the military and the local militia fighting them.
