The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Baga town

  • Boko Haram kills dozens in fresh raids on Baga

    Boko Haram militants have killed dozens of people and burnt down homes in Baga town in the past two days, in a second killing spree since seizing control there at the weekend, witnesses told Reuters.

    Two locals said the insurgents began shooting indiscriminately and burning buildings on Tuesday evening in raids on the civilian population that carried on into Wednesday.

    “I escaped with my family in the car after seeing how Boko Haram was killing people. I saw bodies in the street. Children and women, some were crying for help,” Mohamed Bukar told Reuters after fleeing to Maiduguri, the state capital.

    The insurgency killed more than 10,000 people last year, according to a count by the Council on Foreign Relations in November.

    It is seen as the gravest threat to Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, and a headache for President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of an election on February 14.

    Soldiers fled Baga over the weekend when the Sunni jihadist group overran a nearby army base.

    The district head of Baga, Abba Hassan, said on Thursday that at least 100 people were killed when the group first took over the town on the edge of Lake Chad.

    Abubakar Gulama, who escaped without his family to Monguno, 40 km (25 miles) away, said he crossed “many dead bodies on the ground” and that “the whole town was on fire.”

    Reuters TV footage showed scores of civilians waiting on sandy streets on the outskirts of Baga to catch buses out of town. Many carried the few possessions they had salvaged, such as bags of clothes and rolled up mattresses.

  • Baga residents relive attack on town

    … Flee to Maiduguri

    Baga, a hitherto bustling commercial town in northern Borno is now a ghost of its former self following last Saturday’s attack on the town by Boko Haram insurgents.

    In the aftermath of the attack, over 90 per cent of the town’s population had fled to different parts of the northeast.

    Hundreds of families, relations and friends besieged a bus station in Maiduguri in search of their loved ones who escaped from Boko Haram mayhem on Baga town.

    The Nation gathered that many soldiers and other security personnel took to their heels after their base was over-ran by the insurgents.

    Our correspondent who was at the bus station saw friends, relations and family members making frantic efforts to reunite with their loved ones or get information about them.

    Modu Ajari, is one of the few lucky persons who found their way to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

    His account of the incident portrayed a helpless situation on the side of security agents, who watched as the insurgents wreaked havoc on the town.

    He said, “They (insurgents) came on Saturday morning and attacked Baga town. They engaged the Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and over powered them. We were all running, including the soldiers.

    “We were happy that our safety is guaranteed when military authorizes deployed more soldiers and two trucks of arms on Friday, only to wake up on Saturday morning to see that Boko Haram insurgents took over the military formations and carted away arms, including an armored personnel carrier.

    “Over 40 of us escaped into the bush, while Boko Haram terrorists were gunning down people, only two of us managed to reach Maiduguri.”

    A civilian member of JTF in Baga who also fled to Maiduguri, Abubakar Hamza said, “military personnel were running and throwing away their AK 47, while our members were picking the guns to fight the terrorists. Some of us are with sticks and machetes but they were using sophisticated weapons such as RPG and we have to run.”

    Hamza added that they received a report that a boat loaded with people, mostly women and children, fleeing to Chad Republic capsized in Lake Chad with over 40 people feared dead.

     

  • Baga witnessed massive destruction – HRW

    The Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday said satellite images have revealed massive destruction of civilian property in Baga on April 16 and 17 contrary to the claim by the Defence Headquarters that only 30 houses were destroyed.

    It asked the Federal Government to thoroughly and impartially investigate allegations that soldiers carried out widespread destruction and killing in the town, alleging an attempt to cover up the military operation.

    The HRW, which made the disclosures in a statement by its Africa Director, Daniel Bekele, said a community leader, who was involved in the burial of victims, admitted that he counted 183 corpses.

    The group expressed concern that access to Baga is still difficult.
  • Jonathan orders investigation of killing of 185 in Borno

    Jonathan orders investigation of killing of 185 in Borno

    Having received preliminary briefings from the Military High Command on the incident, President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered a full-scale investigation into reports of high civilian casualties in the confrontation between Nigerian soldiers and insurgents at Baga in Borno State at the weekend.

    About 185 persons including women and children were over the weekend  reportedly killed during a shoot out between mend of the Joint Task Force and Boko Harm insurgents. The victims died of gun shots during the face-off  and fire which  burnt major parts of the town.

    Presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, in a statement noted that  the preliminary briefings indicate that the casualty figures being reported by the foreign media may be grossly exaggerated but said  President Jonathan has  assured Nigerians and the global community that the Federal Government  places the highest possible value on the lives of all citizens of the country.

    He said the  administration will continue to do everything possible to avoid the killing or injuring of innocent bystanders in security operations against terrorists and insurgents.

    “Rules of engagement for the military and security agencies are already in place for this purpose and the investigation ordered by President Jonathan into the incident in Baga is to amongst other things, determine whether or not these rules were fully complied with.

    “The President has also ordered the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) and Federal health agencies to liaise with the Borno State Government and take urgent steps to provide immediate relief and medical support for all who suffered losses and injury in the fighting at Baga.
    He commiserates with all those who have regrettably lost their lives in the fighting, including the soldiers who gallantly made the supreme sacrifice in the operation against terrorism, insurgency and insecurity in Nigeria.

    “The President is deeply pained by the continuance of these needless deaths and will continue to do all within his powers to achieve lasting peace, security and stability in all parts of the country.

    “It is his hope and expectation that the National Committee which he will inaugurate on Wednesday for dialogue and the peaceful resolution of security challenges in the North will contribute significantly to ending the continuous  loss of lives to wasteful violence. ” Abati stated.