Zabarmari Massacre: DHQ Faults UN’s Report Of 110 Killed By Boko Haram, Says Its Only 43

The Defence Headquarters of the Armed Forces, on Monday responds to the report by the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria Edward Kallon who reported that over 110 people were killed during the Zabarmari massacre and not the 43 reported by the FG.

On Saturday, November 28, 2020, the extremist terrorist sect Boko Haram attacked Rice Farmers at the Jere Local Government Area of Borno State, callously murdering the innocent farmers on their farm fields, leaving behind a scene of carnage, and destruction.

The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen John Enenche, on Monday, while on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily Programme, said live on TV only 43 corpses have been recovered from the scene of the brutal murder of innocent Rice farmers and not the alleged 110 reported by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator Edward Kallon.
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Maj. Gen Enenche said as of this morning only 43 bodies were counted and not the alleged 110, and that the military is underreporting.

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 2 pm yesterday (Sunday), I called them and they got back to me at about 7 pm yesterday, still counting, looking if they will recover (more corpses). We call it Exploitation After Action Review.”

The DHQ Coordinator said the search for more remains of more Zabarmari massacre victims is still on but insisted that 43 corpses were retrieved from the scene as of today.

“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.”

The Zabarmari massacre of the rice farmers, who were buried yesterday, has attracted strong international and national condemnations with some Nigerians calling on the President Muhammadu Buhari, to sack the country’s service chiefs and overhaul the security architecture of Nigeria.

Photo Credit: Getty