The Defence Headquarters has faulted a report by the United Nations that 110 civilians, among them 43 farmers, were killed by Boko Haram Terrorists on Saturday in Borno State.
The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, who spoke on a Channels Television programme, Sunrise Daily, was reacting to a statement by the Coordinator of UN Operations in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, on Sunday.
Kallon said apart from the farmers, villages around Koshobe, where the terrorists slaughtered the farmers, were also invaded, with many others killed.
But Enenche said this was far from the truth, though he said efforts were being made to trace the bodies of others who could have been killed by the terrorists.
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…. 110 specifically.”
He said based on reports by the military personnel in the area, 43 bodies were recovered, adding: “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 (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.”
