The Defence Headquarters has disagreed with a comment by the United Nations (UN) that 110 civilians were killed by Boko Haram in the Zabarmani area of Jere local government area on Saturday.
Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche insisted on Monday that 43 corpses were recovered from the scene of the incident.
The rice farmers were said to be harvesting their crops when they were attacked by the terrorists, who tied them up before slitting their throats.
In a condolence message, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon said, “I am outraged and horrified by the gruesome attack against civilians carried out by non-state armed groups in villages near Borno State capital Maiduguri. At least 110 civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded in this attack.”
A member of the state Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), Babakura Kolo, who assisted some of the survivors, had told AFP that the number of people killed stood at 43.
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Enenche backed Kolo during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
He reiterated that the troops counted the corpses together with the locals and 43 deaths were recorded.
The Defence spokesman said he had envisaged the controversy because of the calibre of the UN.
“I knew it (the issue) is going to come up particularly because it is coming from the United Nations and not a source that does not want to be identified. This is a source that has identified itself that a 110 specifically (were murdered),” Enenche said.
He said that field commanders gave him a synopsis of what happened.
“When the governor was to go (to the scene) and after they had recovered the dead, the troops had to move in there and they counted 43.
“Of course, some people ran into the bush and they started coming back and trickling in.
“As at 2pm yesterday (Sunday), I called them and they got back to me at about 7pm yesterday, still counting, looking if they will recover (more corpses). We call it Exploitation after Action Review,” he said.
According to him, the search for more victims could yet turn up a higher casualty figure but the figure stood at 43 as of today.
“Probably we may count up to the figure he (Kallon) gave in the future but as it is now, what we have counted with the locals is still 43 and we are hoping that we don’t get beyond that.
“This is the real situation. I did not sleep, we had to follow it because this is very relevant coming from the United Nations,” Enenche stated.