DHQ faults UN report of 110 killed, insists 43 Borno farmers slaughtered

The Defence Headquarters, on Monday, said 43 farmers died on Saturday, faulting a report by the United Nations that 110 civilians were killed by Boko Haram insurgents in the onslaught in the Jere Local Government Area of Borno State.

On Sunday, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, disclosed that at least 110 persons died in the gruesome attack.

But the Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. John Enenche who spoke on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme said search was still ongoing but that as of Monday morning, 43 corpses had been recovered from the incident scene.

He said, “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, however, explained that he contacted the field commandants and “they gave me 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.”

“Probably we may count up to the figure he (Mr 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.”