By ZAGAZOLA MAKAMA

At least 23 farmers and fishermen were killed on Thursday morning in Malam Karanti, a remote village near Baga in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State, after suspected Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters attacked the community despite an earlier arrangement of mutual cooperation with another Boko Haram faction.

Zagazola Makama gathered from sources and local residents that the victims, mostly beans farmers from Gwoza, had earlier reached an understanding with a Boko Haram faction to be allowed to farm and fish within insurgent-controlled territories in exchange for regular levies. However, Malam Karanti, located about 60 kilometres from Baga town, falls within the operational influence of the rival ISWAP group, known for its brutal enforcement of territorial control.

According to a local vigilante source, the insurgents stormed Malam Karanti around 9:00 a.m., assembled the farmers and fishermen, and executed 23 of them on suspicion of cooperating with rival Boko Haram fighters.

?The terrorists spared an elderly man, who later returned to the community and raised the alarm. They accused the victims of working with Boko Haram and defying ISWAP?s control. Most of them were beans farmers from Gwoza who paid Boko Haram to use the land,? the source said.

Efforts to recover the bodies were thwarted when the insurgents returned and opened fire on the search party, forcing them to retreat.

This is not the first time farmers have been killed after trusting insurgent groups. In a similar incident last year, dozens of farmers were executed in Dumba village, located several kilometers to Baga, after allegedly breaching a non-aggression pact with a terrorist faction.

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State had repeatedly warned communities in insurgency-prone areas against entering into covert arrangements with terrorists for access to land or fishing waters. It said such alliances not only fuel terrorism but also expose civilians to betrayal, inter-factional rivalry, and deadly reprisals.

?Unfortunately, some locals continue to trust the terrorists, believing that paying levies or cooperating will protect them,? said a local official. ?But history has shown that these groups turn against them at the slightest suspicion or territorial dispute.?

Malam Karanti is considered a volatile ISWAP enclave, and despite the risks, desperate civilians often venture into such areas to farm and fish, driven by poverty and food insecurity. (Zagazola, but headline rejigged)

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