KANO: Suspected jihadists killed 11 farmers in two separate attacks in northeastern Nigeria this weekend, anti-jihadist militia fighters told AFP on Sunday.
Communities in northern and central Nigeria are coming under attack from both jihadist groups and criminal gangs, referred to as "bandits" by the local population, who specialise in kidnappings for ransom and cattle rustling.
They impose taxes on farmers seeking access to their own fields and target those who do not pay.
Some farmers, having already paid ransoms to secure the release of kidnapped relatives, no longer have the money to pay the levies. Others are abandoning rural areas.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the resulting decline in agricultural activity could "aggravate poverty and food insecurity" in a county where millions go hungry every day.
On Saturday, attackers rounded up seven farmers in Kuwawu village, in Borno State, and slit their throats, the anti-jihadist militia said.
They blamed militants from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a rival splinter faction of the Borno-based jihadist group Boko Haram
"All the seven farmers were slaughtered by the ISWAP insurgents and their bodies were recovered and buried yesterday," militia fighter Babakura Kolo told AFP.
The farmers had gone to the village from the nearby garrison town of Monguno to prepare their fields for sowing, said militia fighter Ibrahim Liman.
Earlier the same day, four farmers were reportedly killed on their farms outside Kross Kauwa in the Lake Chad region, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Monguno.
Militia fighter Musa Ari blamed ISWAP for their deaths.
ISWAP and Boko Haram have been known to attack farmers, loggers, herders and scrap metal scavengers who they accused of spying on them for Nigerian troops and anti-jihadist militia.
Last week, 17 farmers were killed and five others injured in northwestern Zamfara State, in an attack local officials and residents blamed on criminal gangs.
The IMF has urged the government to protect farmers and herders.
Northern Nigeria produces around 70 percent of the country's cereals, which are consumed locally but also exported to neighbouring countries in west Africa.