No fewer than 40 civilians have been killed and an unspecified number of people injured as insurgents attacked civilians in the Kala Balge Local Government Area of Borno State on Sunday, sources said.

Our correspondent gathered that a large number of the insurgents surrounded the harmless civilians and began to slaughter them.

The federal lawmakers representing the area, Hon. Zainab Gimba, confirmed the incidents to the BBC Hausa in an interview that was monitored by our correspondent.

She said the incident indeed was a sad one and urged the military to do more to protect lives and properties.

A security source also told Daily Trust that many scavengers were killed and they have been buried according to the Islamic rites on Monday evening.

Another source, Zagazola Makama, a Counter Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in Lake Chad, claimed that dozens of the fighters attacked the peasant farmers who were working in their fields with machetes.

The search for bodies continues after the gunmen who were on motorbikes attacked people while on their farms in Rann, the headquarters of the Kala-Balge Local Government Area in the northeastern part of Borno State.

“Over 40 farmers were killed and some of the bodies were dismembered while some were tied up and their throats slit by the terrorists.

“The victims were buried on Monday with residents saying many others are yet to be accounted for,” Zagazola said. (Text, excluding headline: Daily Trust)