The attackers were said to have arrived on Tuesday night and held the villagers hostage till Wednesday morning, burning houses and killing people
Browsing: Baga
The people of Baga, a border town in the restive Borno State, had unfortunately paid for the sins of militants, when their town was razed after an alleged reprisal attacks by soldiers of the Joint Task Force, whose colleagues were merciless killed by Boko Haram terrorists during a military patrol in April 2013
He restated the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to the partnership it shares with the Nigerian Armed Forces in the fight against terrorism as well as in various joint efforts at upholding the internal security of the country
In addition to the issues of flood, he said the Agency has also provided various humanitarian assistance to the state over the recent security challenges that occurred, including the incidences in Baga and Bama towns
Reacting to a criticism by the Congress for Progressive Change that President Jonathan ought to have visited Baga to see things for himself and commiserate with the victims, the Presidency said the call amounted to playing to the gallery
Our correspondent gathered that the suspected terrorists had after the Baga carnage, issued a warning that Marte town would be their next target of attack
In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party therefore called for an urgent and independent investigation into the incidents of April 16, 2013 in Baga to establish the truth, instead of an apparently shoddy investigation that could only have produced a convoluted report
President Jonathan also welcomed the plan by the National Human Rights Commission to carry out independent investigations
Coordinator of the Agency in charge of its North East Zone, Mohammed Kanar, disclosed the figure and debunked allegations that NEMA officials were denied access to the area by the military
The military is still contesting the casualty figure, saying that only 25 members of Boko Haram and six civilians died in the all night shootout in the border town
The NHRC said it had established contact with international rights organizations for this purpose
The Director, Search and Rescue, Air commondore Charles Otebagde, who led the team of rescue and relief officers to Baga town, said the major task for them was to ensure all people who were still in the bush move out to temporary camps established as a team, was on the ground to provide all the necessary assistance to the affected victims
The villagers had told the state governor and journalists, two days after the incident, that they buried 185 people after the clash, a figure disputed by the Nigerian Army
The Director General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani-Sidi, said the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, had directed the Agency to urgently provide immediate succor to the people
Also, the Senate directed its Committees on Army, Police and National Security to conduct a thorough investigation into the killing of over 185 civilians in Baga in Borno State at the weekend and report back in two weeks
Fashakin said the order by President Goodluck Jonathan to probe the incident was a way of stalling the truth from being revealed
In a statement on Tuesday by his Special Adviser, Oyekunle Oyewumi, Kalu said the Joint Task Force should be held liable for such high civilian casualty rate in a village of a few thousand people
In a statement issued in Lagos on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also warned the JTF against engaging in extra-judicial killings, saying the security agencies must respect the relevant rules of engagement in their ongoing onslaught against the sect in order to spare the lives and property of innocent civilians
Saraki, writing on the wall of his social network site, Facebook, condemned the killing of the civilians, which he described as “gruesome”
Asked about civilian causalities, the DDI said he was yet to get the proper record