Since 2009, Nigeria"s northeast and Bornostate in particular have been the centre of an insurgency led by the militantIslamist group Boko Haram. Millions have been displaced and some 350,000 peoplehave died from attacks and the subsequent humanitarian crisis, according to theUnited Nations.
Over time, Boko Haram has split with an activeoffshoot called Islamic State West Africa Province also claiming responsibilityfor attacks in the west African country.
Local residents blamed the latest attack onBoko Haram. Army spokesman Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu did notimmediately respond to a request for comment.
"We are all in pain over the killing ofour innocent people who were working on their farmland. ... We buried 50 peopletoday in Rann. They were clearing their farmlands ahead of the rainy season,while others went for firewood," Harun Tom, a local farmer, said.
Agid Muhammad, a farmer who recently returnedto Rann after living in an internally displaced-persons camp, described a sceneof carnage.
"A large number of Boko Haram onmotorcycles armed with guns and machetes surrounded our people who were workingon their farms and held them hostages before killing them one by one,"Muhammad said, adding that his uncle was still missing.
"They were tied with rope andslaughtered. As I"m speaking to you, many people aren"t accounted for."
