The Nigerian Military has said that a fact-finding team sent from the Defence Headquarters to Baga, Borno State, where a massacre was said to have taken place last week, did not find any evidence to support the claim.
In a statement released by the Director, Defence Information, Brigadier-General Chris Olukolade, the three-day visit by the fact-finding team did not uncover any mass grave where alleged victims of the massacre were buried.
It also said interviews with community leaders and other eyewitnesses also exonerated the military of mass killing in the area.
The team had been led by the Chief of Training and Operations at the Defence Headquarters, Major-General Lawrence Ngubane and had interacted with the commander, officers and troops of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), community leaders, the police, aid workers and residents of Baga town, in its attempt to get clear perspectives on the incident in the town.
The statement read, “The team also went round the town interviewing those who participated or witnessed the encounter at the various scenes connected with the incident, as it tries to verify various claims reported in the media concerning the professional conduct of the soldiers.
“In its particular concern to ascertain the claims of massive loss of lives, the team was taken to cemeteries in the town, as it tried to locate where the reported large number of civilian casualties were buried. It, however, found no mass grave after nearly two days of search.”
The military also said that the District Head of Baga, Alhaji Babagana Zanna, who was also accompanied by the local government chairman, told the fact-finding team that there were no evidence of mass burial in the area.
The statement also quoted the chairman, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State, who was earlier reported in the media to have given casualty figures as saying that he was not in the town during the incident.
The Director, Defence Information, also quoted the Task Force commander, Brigadier-General Austin Edokpayi, who said that the operation of April 16 and 17 by the force had stabilised the area, until the arrival of some politicians whom, he said, made some allegations while addressing the community on April 21.
He said the allegations made by the politicians raised fresh tension, adding that they attempted to discredit the military.
Edokpayi had also insisted that the operation was only targeted at stopping the Boko Haram terrorists, who he said had “established a pattern of burning buildings and property as a mode of operation in the area lately,” adding that the military had seen such evidence in places where the terrorists operated recently, including Duguri, Metele, and Kangarwa communities.
A battle between the MNJTF, which is drawn from the Nigerian, Nigerien and Chadian militaries and the Boko Haram Islamist sect was said to have claimed about 187 lives, most of them said to be civilians killed when the MNJTF torched houses and opened fire on unarmed civilians.