Boko Haram kills at least 43 farm workers in Nigeria

Boko Haram fighters killed at least 43 farm workers and injured six in rice fields near the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Saturday.

The assailants tied up the agricultural workers and slit their throats in the village of Koshobe, an anti-jihadist militia told AFP.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack.

The victims were labourers from Sokoto state in northwestern Nigeria, roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) away, who had travelled to the northeast to find work, said another militiaman Ibrahim Liman who gave the same toll. 

Eight others were missing, presumed to have been kidnapped by the jihadists.

The bodies were taken to Zabarmari village, two kilometres away, where they would be kept ahead of burial on Sunday, said resident Mala Bunu who took part in the search and rescue operation.

Last month Boko Haram militants slaughtered 22 farmers working on their irrigation fields near Maiduguri in two separate incidents.

Boko Haram and ISWAP, its IS-linked rival, have increasingly targeted loggers, herders and fishermen in their violent campaign, accusing them of spying and passing information to the military and the local militia fighting them.

At least 36,000 people have been killed in the jihadist conflict, which has displaced around two million since 2009.