Again another tragic incident has occured in Niger State where suspected Boko Haram members in the Pandogari community have beheaded two farmers.
This attack is coming barely two weeks after 13 farmers were killed at a mining site in Shiroro local government area.
According to sources, the insurgents were fleeing from local vigilantes that launched a full-scale war against them, combing the Allawa, Bassa, and Kukoki forests.
The vigilantes, numbering over 200, were mobilized from neighboring states to counter the insurgents.
The incident highlights the ongoing security challenges in the region, with Boko Haram’s violent activities causing harm to innocent civilians. The local vigilantes’ efforts to combat the insurgents are a significant development in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria.
The fleeing members of the Boko Haram were said to have met the farmers in their farms while escaping the onslaught by the local vigilantes.
Before the onslaught by the Vigilantes, the Boko Haram sect had occupied Allawa, Bassa, Kukoki and other neighboring villages after they successfully dislodged the Military from their Camps at Allawa and Bassa, and ordered the people to vacate their homes.
Those who tried to return to the communities to get some food stuff, especially in Allawa have paid the supreme prize in the last two months with over 40 of the villagers killed so far.
It was gathered that the two beheaded farmers were in their farms working when the gunmen met them and after killing them, they (gunmen) decided to exchange their head with their body.
“After beheading then, they exchanged their heads with their bodies and abandoned them. We just buried them today”, our source said.
He however lamented that if a similar onslaught could be launched against the gunmen from Pandogari end, they will not have an escape route, stressing that “they are now running towards Pandogari because the heat is on them from Allawa, Bassa and Kukoki.
“We are appealing to the government to mobilize the vigilantes for similar offensive against them from Pandogari end. They (gunmen) have all fled Allawa as I am talking to you now”, he added.
Meanwhile a source close to the government told our correspondent that the government decided to engaged the services of the local vigilantes since the federal government is foot-dragging in sending troops to the area.
“The state government needs to act quickly if not the current situation and the activities of these gunmen will send our people away from their farms and their ancestral lands.
“The government wants to put an end to all that now, and has decided to take the fight to the insurgents in their enclaves. We will follow them to wherever they are within our territory. We are going all out against them.
“I can tell you that this exercise will be a continuous one untill the state and the people are free from the menace of these criminal elements. They motive is criminal and nothing more”, our source disclosed.
