Why 78 Nigerian farmers were murdered

THE FARMERS—43 of them—were found in the rice fields where they had gone to work. Some had their throats slit. Others were beheaded. In the days that followed locals found evidence of yet more butchery, taking the toll to 78. Boko Haram, a jihadist group that has been fighting since 2009 to carve out a caliphate in north-east Nigeria, was quick to claim credit for the murders. It said they were revenge for the capture of a militant by locals.The people of north-east Nigeria have grown wearily accustomed to the horrors of Boko Haram, whose name is loosely translated as “Western education is forbidden”. The group has been known to strap ticking bombs to children before sending them into markets and mosques. Its abduction of more than 200 girls from a school in Chibok in 2014 became emblematic of the many failures of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. He was defeated in an election the following year by Muhammadu Buhari, a former general who promised to restore security.