The attack was confirmed to have occurred on Sunday around 2:30 p.m. at the Fadana-Garuwa River in Duji Ward, where dozens of fishermen were ambushed while working along the riverbank.

Eyewitnesses who spoke with newsmen said that the insurgents arrived on motorcycles, heavily armed, and accused the fishermen of collaborating with rival fighters from the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).

A source whose name was withheld maintained that the slain fishermen had been granted conditional access to fish in the river by ISWAP operatives, in exchange for regular tax payments.

According to him, the Sunday’s massacre is believed to be a retaliatory attack by Boko Haram, which maintains control over parts of the riverine axis stretching into Niger Republic.

The incident adds to the growing toll of violence in Nigeria’s northeast, where both Boko Haram and ISWAP have ramped up attacks on civilians and military targets in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States.