The brutal killing of 43 rice farmers at Zabarmari in Jere Local Government Area of Borno State on Saturday has generated a lot of reactions from Nigerians on social media, who are asking for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari and the sack of the country’s Service Chiefs.
The social media, especially Twitter, was awash with reactions on the incident, which the United Nations also reacted to, putting the death toll at over 110.
Those killed by the Boko Haram Terrorists had their throats slit.
The massacre has sparked a fresh call for the resignation of the President and the sack of the Service Chiefs.
Recall that there was a call for the President to resign because of the insecurity situation in the nation back in February.
The Hashtag: #SackTheServiceChiefs, which was trending on Twitter as at press time on Monday evening, had about 17.3k tweets.
Meanwhile, the residents of Zabarmari have claimed that the killing of the rice farmers in the community would have been avoided if the Nigerian military had taken action after being informed of the impending attack.
The terrorists were reported to have first tied up the farmers before slitting their throats.
According to one of the surviving villagers, whose name was given as Abubakar Salihu, they foresaw danger after they arrested one of the Boko Haram Terrorists and handed him over to the security operatives.
Salihu said: “We informed military beforehand that our members sighted Boko Haram in large numbers, but nothing was done about it.
“It was a sad day for us in Zabarmari.
“It could have been averted, but the military failed to act on the information we gave them.”
Another rice farmer, Mohammed Alhaji, said the victims were busy harvesting rice when the insurgents summoned and assembled them.
Alhaji said: “It was a deliberate act to ensure that we do not harvest our farm produce.
“We need the Federal Government to assist us and secure our lives.”
Though Buhari had in a statement on Sunday night through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, condemned the killing by the terrorists as “insane” and “senseless”, concerned Nigerians on Twitter insisted the President should resign and sack his Service Chiefs.
@TheIOShowa: “The #SackTheServiceChiefs is only creating a false narrative that they’re all that matters in solving the problems, someone promised to lead the battle against BokoHaram in 2015 that person needs to go. Hence #BuhariMustGo is the most appropriate.”
@AM_Saleeem: “Sheikh Ahmad Gumi: I called Jonathan to resign because there were flow of bloodshed during his time & he couldn’t stop it, but if we can be fair to ourselves, the bloodshed During Buhari’s regime has multiply that of Jonathan’s regime.?#ZabarmariMassacre #SackTheServiceChiefs.”
@Cozyqueen1: “Buhari must urgently resign from office. The insecurity in Nigeria is too alarming to bear. Buhari and the Service Chiefs must resign before terrorists completely destroy this country. #BuhariMustGo #SackTheServiceChiefs.”
@mrmacaronii: “We won’t keep quiet while our Northern brothers and sisters are being massacred because of the obvious irresponsibility of the government. We are first Nigerians before tribe or religion!! If President Buhari cannot guarantee the safety of citizens, he should resign!!”
@TopeAkinyode: “Buhari must urgently resign from office. The insecurity in Nigeria is too alarming to bear. Buhari and the Service Chiefs must resign before terrorists completely destroy this country. #BuhariMustGo #SackTheServiceChiefs.”