185 killed in Borno town, Baga, as soldiers, Boko Haram fight

Residents say it was operatives of the JTF who opened fire on the town killing women and children

At least 185 persons including women and children were reported to have been killed by either gunshots  or fire after suspected Boko Haram gunmen engaged soldiers of the Joint Task Force in a deadly shootout that left the commercial border town of Baga in Borno State completely burnt down.

Local government officials, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES, said 185 persons died, at least 2000 houses, 64 motorcycles and 40 cars were burnt in the wake of the attack.

The Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, visited the town on Sunday and was told by residents that soldiers were responsible for the torching of houses that led to the death of many.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that scores of others are currently hospitalised with various shades of burnt injuries.

Residents said most casualties, especially the aged ones and children, died as a result of the conflagration that engulfed the entire town.

Governor Kashim Shettima, who visited the town on Sunday, became emotionally drenched at the sight of charred houses,vehicles and how homeless residents took refuge in the bush.

The Commander of the Task Force, Brigadier General Austin Edokpaye, explained that the fire that consumed the town and resultant deaths should be blamed on the Boko Haram terrorists who opened fire on soldiers while  hiding in the mix of civilians.

A local trader in Baga told PREMIUM TIMES that the attack started at about 8 p.m. on Friday and was continued the next day.

“Only God can understand what we have done to deserve this. But the soldiers were mindless that night in their approach; they killed and burnt our houses, chased everyone into the bush including women and children. So far we have buried 185 corpses. – some were burnt beyond recognition; others are hospitalised with various degrees of burnt,” said the resident who begged to remain anonymous.

Governor Shettima who drove through the burnt town amidst heavy motorcade of security personnel condemned the incident which he said was a ‘nasty occurrence’.

At the town’s hospital, the governor had to  commiserate with women, children and aged men receiving treatment for various degrees of burnt caused by the fire.

Bashir Isa, a grocery merchant,  told PREMIUM TIMES that “everyone has been in the bush since Friday night; we started returning back to town because the governor came to town today.

“To get food to eat in the town now is a problem because even the markets are burnt. We are still picking corpses of women and children in the bush and creeks.”

Brigadier General Edokpaye denied allegations by residents that the shootout was unprovoked.

“We lost an officer during the attack on our men on patrol. We’ve received an intelligence that some suspected Boko Haram members usually pray and hide arms at a particular mosque in town. It was around that mosque that our men were attacked with several of them injured and an officer died.

“When we reinforced and returned to the scene, the terrorists came out with heavy firepower including RPGs which usually has a conflagration effect,” the army chief said.

Governor Shettima pleaded with fleeing residents to return to their burnt homes as a committee had been empannelled to provide a palliative compensation for the loss they suffered.

He also called on the commander to “take full charge” of his operation and ensure he personally supervises his field officers from time to time “in order to avert such nasty incidences in the future.”



-- Premium Times

The Joint Task said only six civilians died.
The Joint Task Force, JTF, in Borno has claimed that only six civilians were killed over the weekend during a gun battle it had with insurgents in Baga community of Borno State.
The JTF said residents’ claims that 185 people were killed during the attack were false.
The Commander of the Task Force, Brigadier General Austin Edokpaye, said in a three-paragraph statement he sent to journalists in Maiduguri, that Baga residents lied when they told the Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, that over 2000 houses were burnt down after the attack. He insisted that only some few 30 thatch houses got burnt.
Mr. Edokpaye said his troops killed 30 Boko Haram gunmen, while five (5) others were arrested. He said a soldier died and five others sustained injuries.
He said “contrary to media speculation that hundreds of houses were burnt, instead, it was the explosion from Boko Haram Terrorists’ Rocket Propelled Grenade Bombs, Anti Aircraft Guns and sophisticated IED materials that triggered fire to about 30 thatch houses in the predominantly fishing community.”

Government of Nigeria’s north eastern state of Borno on Tuesday directed the Ministry of Works to begin reconstruction of houses destroyed during Friday’s military engagement with suspected insurgents in Baga, Kukawa Local Government Area of the state.

About 2,000 houses were razed during the encounter, which claimed more than 185 lives.

Malam Isa Gusau, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Communication, announced this in a statement in Maiduguri.

Gusau said Gov. Kashim Shettima also directed for immediate distribution of relief materials to the victims of the mayhem. “Governor Kashim Shettima has ordered the immediate release of relief materials, including food items and clothing, to the victims of the clash. He has also ordered the state’s Ministry of Works to immediately mobilise to site in Baga town and start the reconstruction of houses destroyed,” he said.

Gusau said the governor expressed regret over the incident.

He added that the action was pending the outcome of the report of an investigation committee set up by the government to unravel the root cause of the crisis. PM News