Boko Haram: 847 soldiers killed in Borno in 6 years -Senate c’ttee
Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Ali Ndume, told journalists in Abuja yesterday that from 2013 to date, s847 soldiers were killed by Boko Haram insurgents and buried in a particular military cemetery in Maiduguri, Borno State.
He said the figure did not include other slain soldiers buried in other cemeteries in the state.
"So far, from the record we saw in the cemetery, I think we lost over 847 soldiers, by their record there and that is in that cemetery alone from 2013 to date, that is their record", he said.
He described the allegation of a mass burial by the army as unfounded.
"Nigerian Army will never do that,” he said.
Ndume said the 2020 budgetary allocation of N100bn for the Ministry of Defence was inadequate.
"When you are in a war situation and you are budgeting N10.3tn and you are allocating less than one percent to defence, that does not show that your are serious about it. I was hoping that it’s 10 percent.
"So far, the international community that is not affected has so far donated between $547m and over N140bn; while the Nigerian government is budgeting N38bn for North East Development Commission.
"If more than half of the budget is given to security, it is worth it because without it, all these things that you are doing - infrastructure, hospitals - will not work.”
Ndume said the Senate would allegations that NGOs were providing information and logistics to the insurgents.
"I have been critical about this and people have told me to be careful but it has come out now that one or two of the so-called NGOs operating there are actually aiding and abetting and supporting the insurgents, but we will do an investigation.
"So far, we have evidence, we just want to make it credible. The evidence is there and the common questions are even there. I have asked them before. When Chibok girls were released, we were very happy and jubilating. Some people went and negotiated for their release...
"Dapchi girls were abducted, one was remaining, but you negotiated for the rest. Then what happened with the only one? They want to create problem? If I am the one negotiating and I have 100 Muslims that can be released, for that one Christian that will not be released, I'll cut off the deal.
"If you are giving me these children, give all of them to me, but if you are keeping one, keep all of them. But nobody is talking. Everybody is just saying bring back Leah," he added.
Meanwhile, troops told Daily Trust that the figure of the slain soldiers was manipulated, claiming that over 2,000 soldiers were killed by the insurgents.
They said this year alone, more than 100 soldiers had been killed in the northern part of Borno State.
"If they say the figure is less than 900 soldiers that were killed in this operation, they are not fair to the families of the slain soldiers. In my unit that came to Maiduguri in the year 2012, only few of us are still alive, I am weeping within me. The casualty figure is more 2,000," one of the troops said.
Another soldier, who escaped Zari attack last August, said the insurgents killed more than 50 soldiers in that attack.
Army spokesman Colonel Sagir Musa neither answered phone calls nor replied text messages sent to him for a reaction yesterday.
A security expert and former director at the Department of State Service, Mike Ejiofor, said if the figure of slain soldiers given by the Senate committee was anything to go buy, “Nigeria is in a full blown far.”
The Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said it was sad that Nigeria lost such a huge number of soldiers, saying the figure might be higher.