By KINGSLEY OMONOBI

…Denies claim that 185 persons were killed
ABUJA—THE Defence headquarters, Sunday, accused politicians and officials of Borno State government, of deliberately inflating the casualty figure in the shoot-out between the military and members of Boko Haram at Baga community in Borno State two weeks ago to discredit the military so that the troops will be withdrawn from the state.

It was reported that about 185 residents of the community were killed by the Multi-national Task Force during the shoot out while over 2000 homes were destroyed.

The Defence Headquarters said in a statement, however, that the series of allegations were aimed at discrediting the military, with the aim to put pressure on government to order the withdrawal of troops from Borno, adding that no mass grave was found anywhere after two days of searching as alleged by the politicians.

The statement noted that after the operation to flush out the terrorists from Baga had been successfully carried out on April 16 and 17, “the situation in the town had been stabilized until the arrival of some politicians and government officials who addressed the community on Sunday, April 21, making a series of allegations which ended up raising fresh tension and campaign to discredit the military. The politicians reiterated their call for withdrawal of soldiers from the State during their address”.

The statement signed by Brigadier General Chris Olukolade, Director of Defence Information reads: “The Defence Headquarters fact-finding team to Baga has returned to present its report to the Chief of Defence Staff on the outcome of its three-day visit to Baga following the reports on last week’s encounter between the Multinational Joint Task Force, MNJTF, and Boko Haram Terrorists in the town.

“The team which was led by the Chief of Training and Operations, Defence Headquarters, Major General Lawrence Ngubane interacted with the commander, officers and troops of the MNJTF as well as some community leaders, the police, aid workers and residents of the town with a view of getting their perspectives on the incident.

The team also went round the town interviewing those who participated or witnessed the encounter at the various scenes connected with the incident as it tries to verify various claims reported in the media concerning the professional conduct of the soldiers.

“In its particular concern to ascertain the claims of massive loss of lives, the team was taken to cemeteries in the town as it tried to locate the reported large number of civilian casualties that were buried.  It, however, found no mass grave after nearly two days of search”.

No mass burial in domain
Responding to the enquiries of the team, the District Head of Baga, Alhaji Babagana Zanna, who was also accompanied by the Local Government Chairman Alhaji Kone, maintained that he had not received any report of the said mass burial in his domain. Also responding to the team, the Chairman, Kukawa Local Government Area, who was earlier quoted to have given some figures, said he was not in the town during the incidence and as such does not know the number of civilians who died in the incident”.

Briefing the team earlier, the Task Force Commander, Brigadier General Austin Edokpayi narrated how the task force operation was conducted on April 16 and 17, 2013.

General Edokpayi maintained that the operation was only targetted at stopping the Boko Haram terrorists who had established a pattern of burning buildings and property as a mode of operation in the area lately.  He cited instances of how the terrorists employed the tactic of burning properties in communities such as Duguri, Metele, and Kangarwa where they operated recently.

The leader of the DHQ team, Major General Ngubane later addressed the troops of the task force, assuring them that the Chief of Defence Staff was concerned about how operations are carried out in any location where the troops are deployed. According the General, his team was also in Baga to confirm the logistics and welfare needs of the troops and brief the CDS for immediate attention.